Posted on 12/26/2006 5:19:02 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Pity, we've got rain and a cold snap coming. It's going to remind him of home - with Palm trees...
He doesn't have his own RAF-operated plane?
Yes snugs it sure would
He normally commandeers the Queen's flight but I think he does sometimes travel commercial I think whatever is considered the best/most convenient at the time.
After all the Queen took the train last week on the way to Windsor.
Apparently the UK is the only G8 country without a dedicated plane for its PM. The No. 32 Squadron performs many flights for Blair and the Royal Family and others are charter flights. I've never heard that he would actually fly commercial. Maybe it was a private trip so he didn't want to waste money?
It seems like a dangerous security issue to me. The UK is one of the countries with a nuclear bullseye on it so the PM should have a dedicated aircraft just for defense purposes. Blair has requested a plane for this reason but the media mocked him calling his requested plane "Blair Force One."
My thoughts as well
Gotta be terrorists greasing the runway, or Bushes fault.
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Personally as he was going on holiday I do not think he should commandeer a plane or use the Queen's flight I know there are security issues but to travel commerical I think for a holiday is correct. Why should I as a British tax payer pay for him to charter a plane for a holiday if he paid fine but I do not see that happening.
I hope he was taking off and not landing. Even so, that was a long takeoff roll.
Wow, that's amazing. I wonder how many seats his security detail take up.
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" equivalent of their president!! "
Not exactly. A president is head of state. The Queen in the head of the British state. The PM is what the name implies. The prime minister of Parliament.
I would only recommend that he has an airplane for defensive communication in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK. The UK has nuclear weapons, but the deterrence factor drops significantly if potential enemies realize that it would be easy to knock out all levels of executive command. A PM or President is always on the job, whether they are visiting Miami for a holiday or visiting Crawford, Texas for a holiday. An executive aircraft should always be ready to put them in a safe place and in communication with the military.
Additionally, what if there was a short notice request to attack a terrorist camp (or other important target) somewhere that required PM permission? How would Blair have been able to respond on a commercial flight? With a airplane phone? How would he be able to be properly briefed?
These are the reasons that the US has executive aircraft for the President, Vice President, and the Secretary of Defense.
Damned right someone's in trouble. NO excuse for this.......and I know.
Maybe he's connecting to a smaller craft to a Caribbean island. I recall him vacationing there before.
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