Today, government at all levels in the UK takes 43% of the national income. That is $1.15 trillion per year. Slightly more than half of that is spending at the national level. And they think they can't afford half the navy they had yesterday, which was already a tiny, 44 ship fleet.
Why? Because Britain is no longer a serious nation. Hasn't been for quite some time. A minority continue to put up a good show, but the bulk of the country has decided that the best use of wealth is to sit on their collective backsides collecting government checks and feeling really, really self-righteous.
Sounds depressingly familiar to the situation just before the Falklands war. Then it was a Conservative government about to make large cuts to the Navy and reduce it to a coastal defence force.
>British Navy To Be Cut In Half<
I wonder if this is the reason Chavez has chosen this time to beat his chest.
Ah, universal healthcare. Now there’s a great idea.