Absolutely, I was at RAF Wattisham as ground crew for Lightings which Sir Michael was a pilot a decade before. After the RAF I had several careers, travelled extensively, worked with many senior people in finance, business, IT and Civil Engineering but none of them and accepting I was only 19 at the time, none of them ever matched the leadership, intelligence, really decent men and dedication to their job as a RAF Lighting fighter pilot. If we had the calibre of such men as Sir Michael Graydon in government at senior level, would we be in the trouble we are now in.
@@Sam-gw5pl He stated that he is disappointed with expansionist approach of China. What evidence(s) does the man have to make the claim that China is expansionist?
In 1988, when I retired from the RAF, there were over 90,000 people in the service. If you halve that number, it must affect things like promotion & career opportunities, so really bright would-be recruits don't sign up because there are no prospects. One of the attractions of service life was that you were looked after, & that there were very many places, at home & overseas, where you might serve, but now the choice is dire, & who wants to spend most of their time in abject discomfort. I wouldn't want to be in the military in this day & age.
When I joined the army in 2016 there was over hundred thousand soldiers serving in the British army alone. When I left for short years later, the army was less than 82,000 I was personally told 76,000 in the year 2020. This is simply a joke. Our allies do not take us seriously no more and they have put us in a training role instead of a frontline role. And I’m pretty sure anybody to read. This comment would agree that the British military is the most respected higher class fighting force in the world, but sadly labour and conservative governments have heavily underfunded the Ministry of defence and caused all the dramas that we have today.
In my personal opinion, the British population is around 68 to 72,000,000 people., for every 10 million there should be at least 50,000 soldiers serving in the military so let’s say 350,000 at the bare minimum for the size of this country. I’m only 25 so there’s not many young people have my sort of opinion, but I believe national service should be from the age of 18 to 25 if you are unemployed in that timeframe for a minimum of a year national service
@@MrH1990s Sir Michael has emerged triumphant over Nigel, notably surpassing him in matters pertaining to the European Union. His intellectual prowess and strategic manoeuvring have effortlessly exposed Nigel's inadequacies, rendering him inconsequential in comparison.
@@johnhudghton3535 "He made it evident that the US no longer consults with the UK due to its departure from the EU. In an indirect manner, he conveyed the message that the UK's isolation, with a military force of 37,000 soldiers, has resulted in diminished attention from others, acknowledging the relative size of their army compared to other nations, a fact that holds true."
Sir Michael-"Global Britain is delusional" "Before Brexit and we where in Europe the Americans used to phone us,now they don't." Says it all,no longer treated with respect on the World stage.☹️
Nigel who took us away from the seat at the table with the US as first port of call as part of the EU? Didn't you hear what he said? Nigel whose a liar?
@@Bobisalive Nigel Farage is the only person in mainstream politics that fights for the hard-working people of the United Kingdom. He doesn’t favoured a rich. He simply a fair man. With very good political knowledge and know how. He is the only politician to get the job done right and currently. If Nigel runs for prime minister in 2025, he is 100%. Got my vote
@@MrH1990s yes that is my point, he isn't trying to get any position so there isnt anything to vote him for. so saying "vote for Farage" is just a stupid comment.
Whittle down the armed forces until there is only woke soldiers and officers so you have gave a great force to suppress the people. Unlikely but..... 😂
Were a maritime nation, our geography states we need a strong Navy. The RAF has always hated aircraft carriers because it means the Navy gets jets as well as the RAF. The falklands only won because we had movable airfields in the form of carriers. Most wars are littoral and we dont have a luxury of airbases around the world
sure, but in Australia they don't ask us, they just tell our government what wars it is to participate in. The UK is welcome to accept a similar position.
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Which is why Ukraine and other old Soviet satellite states should be ineligible to join. Ps NZ and Oz are not in the North Atlantic either.
In 1914 and 1939 we deployed a BEF to France which put us smack bang into a European war - why ?? Today we should consider leaving NATO like the French did for many years. Keep our Nuclear deterrent and look after our our overseas commitments and allies - Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Falklands etc
I strongly agree what you have said. we should focus on the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth nations. Unfortunately, charity starts at home. The British government needs to look after the British people first priority. We need younger people in parliament who understands the younger generation, but we also need the older generation to keep the younger generation in Check. We live in a world with so many unknowns, so many homeless people living on the streets, and so many rich people taking advantage of the poor. To this current day, we do not understand why each and everyone of us have been put on this earth. That only explanation I can physically come up with myself, is that God or science put us on this earth and we have done nothing, but disrespect the gift we have been given. It’s time to respect one another, and treat every human as a human, not a scum of the Earth. Every country in the world, teamed up and work together then the world would be a better place. The first thing we need to do is work on how to love one another then we can work on peace. We need to start off with disbanding the military industrial complex.
RAF Pilot training was privatised some years ago to Babcock a Canadian company I think if my memory is correct. Ask them and at the same time Farage should be asking WHY we are outsourcing fast jet training which has consistently failed to deliver so now many trainee pilots are simply leaving the RAF before even stepping foot inside the cockpit. We have NO control anymore so NF should be on this tack don't you think what happened to taking back control . Come on mate speak up.
Unfortunately Ben Wallace seems to appear as a good defence Minister. He has done the job of what he can do with the budget he has provided and he has turned the military around with huge progress. But however, he is simply out of touch with the day-to-day living of British military personnel. He understands the struggle, but he’s never experienced the struggle. People join the military to protect their country, and I have a long successful career, but Ben Wallace is simply out of touch with the military and the day-to-day needs. The British military shouldn’t have to struggle with simple things, such as food and day-to-day living. 3040 years of underfunding. The British military has really taken its toll for future generations to come. If nothing has changed within the next five years, we will not have a British military to call a British Army.
The racialix of the Western ciuntries us an avsolute negative when it requires dedicated nationalistic personnel who wish to defend the various countries. Generally immigrants who have ran away from their own countries rather than stay and improve it. These people will not have the interest, they can & will run away to other destinations if there are better opportunities.
What we need is an inexhaustible source of cheap power ie nuclear fusion or similar. If we had that, there would be no dependence on foreign energy and no need for any country to encroach on other borders. We also need birth control and we need to throw welfare out of the window. It is destroying humanity, engendering waste and social degeneracy.
You could argue that the US has vastly exceeded the 2% if GDP because of the financing, and obviously failing, of Ukraine. This has not been confined to Ukraine but many Middle East countries, Indochina, South America, sll of which they have lost. So much so that it has just about broken the US economy which is now collapsing & will bring down the rest of the Western World
The simple fact is 2% of national GDP is a pathetic example of spending on military as some countries and most countries do not earn the same amount of money per year. Some countries are richer. Some countries are poor. It should be a simple number provided each year save a sample £100 billion for the British military. It shouldn’t be measured in GDP. I personally think the British military should get around 80 to 100 billion per year and to be adjusted by inflation.
Yes Sir Michael, but I remember as Chaplain, when those redundancies were being made, the people who wanted to leave were the really talented ones who could get paid so much more and have better conditions in civvy street and the ones who wanted to stay were often the deadlegs who could not "cut it" in the outside world. Equipment or talent? Hmmmm Ask Ukraine what their greatest asset is. It is motivated, high morale service people.
Ukranian high morale service people. What’s left of the Ukraine army has been press ganged at the point of a gun. Honestly, you “nice people “ are naive bloody menace!
It's all very well to say we need to invest more in our military, and I don't disagree, but where's the money coming from? Square this circle for me: Unlimited financial support to Ukraine + Civilian infrastructure investment + Military investment? You can't have all three, we simply don't have the money.
In all my years closely following politics I have scarcely heard a more smug comfortable insider view of a given situation. NATO has long since stopped being a defence organisation and Russia is not the Soviet Union. Time have changed boys and Putin is about to hand NATO it’s arse without even breaking a sweat. As an Englishman it gives me no pleasure to watch our military in such a sociopathic and dismal state. I expect bastardry from politicians and bankers but I also know that people’s as opposed to governments do not want war and once the large majority realise that a small minority create these problems the so called powers that be and their smug apologists better look out.
😂 Is that Nigel “millionaire Coutts customer” Farage who has been such a political force that he has had 7 electoral defeats ( 5 GE and 2 by elections ) ?!?!
All these Brexiteers who were banging on about sovereignty in the run up to the referendum seem to be quited relaxed about Ukraine's sovereignty, particularly its territorial integrity which is probably the most part of sovereignty.
What a lovely honest gentleman, so much knowledge, pity the government does not use it
He certainly exposed farraige !!
Sir Michael is a great man.
Lying does not make a man great. Talking about blind, deaf, and dumb.
@@MyWordsAreTheTruthplease elaborate.
Absolutely, I was at RAF Wattisham as ground crew for Lightings which Sir Michael was a pilot a decade before. After the RAF I had several careers, travelled extensively, worked with many senior people in finance, business, IT and Civil Engineering but none of them and accepting I was only 19 at the time, none of them ever matched the leadership, intelligence, really decent men and dedication to their job as a RAF Lighting fighter pilot. If we had the calibre of such men as Sir Michael Graydon in government at senior level, would we be in the trouble we are now in.
@@Sam-gw5pl He stated that he is disappointed with expansionist approach of China. What evidence(s) does the man have to make the claim that China is expansionist?
@@MyWordsAreTheTruth...Hong Kong and Taiwan...
In 1988, when I retired from the RAF, there were over 90,000 people in the service. If you halve that number, it must affect things like promotion & career opportunities, so really bright would-be recruits don't sign up because there are no prospects. One of the attractions of service life was that you were looked after, & that there were very many places, at home & overseas, where you might serve, but now the choice is dire, & who wants to spend most of their time in abject discomfort. I wouldn't want to be in the military in this day & age.
When I joined the army in 2016 there was over hundred thousand soldiers serving in the British army alone. When I left for short years later, the army was less than 82,000 I was personally told 76,000 in the year 2020. This is simply a joke. Our allies do not take us seriously no more and they have put us in a training role instead of a frontline role. And I’m pretty sure anybody to read. This comment would agree that the British military is the most respected higher class fighting force in the world, but sadly labour and conservative governments have heavily underfunded the Ministry of defence and caused all the dramas that we have today.
I’ve also heard that the army is around 68,000 strong as of right now. The mainstream media wouldn’t tell you this information.
In my personal opinion, the British population is around 68 to 72,000,000 people., for every 10 million there should be at least 50,000 soldiers serving in the military so let’s say 350,000 at the bare minimum for the size of this country. I’m only 25 so there’s not many young people have my sort of opinion, but I believe national service should be from the age of 18 to 25 if you are unemployed in that timeframe for a minimum of a year national service
The first time you have a a lgood
@@MrH1990swhy ? Who came up with that rule ? And times have changed . Technology takes over . Armies are not just number of bodies anymore .
There's no profit in peace.
Sir Michael Grayden is a great man. I have had the privilege to meet him a couple of times. Lovely man
The biggest take from this is Indians won't fight for this country they are here for the money. Who is our PM?
The Conservatives are now a high caste Indian Party.
Yes, sad but true.
Yep. And why would they? They aren't British, and never will be. We need to stop deluding ourselves on this.
A valid point, we'll made. Jesus was born in a stable, it didn't make Him a horse !
Mike Graydon-absolute gentleman; knew him when he was OC 11 Sqn.
I like how he tells farage leaving the EU has made us less powerfull
@@johnny71c54 Yep! Didn't think it'd take long before some miserable, bitter, Leftie Remoaner chimed up!
@@johnny71c54 project reality.
Then Nigel F asked, "Who does it [the US] speak to?" and his interviewee did not know the answer.
Brilliant interview!!!
You cannot expect a seat at the top table without a powerful armed forces. To earn respect, build up the rundown armed forces.
Vote for Nigel, my friend
@@MrH1990s Sir Michael has emerged triumphant over Nigel, notably surpassing him in matters pertaining to the European Union. His intellectual prowess and strategic manoeuvring have effortlessly exposed Nigel's inadequacies, rendering him inconsequential in comparison.
@@klobi1718hahaha
@@klobi1718Whuch interview did you view?
@@johnhudghton3535 "He made it evident that the US no longer consults with the UK due to its departure from the EU. In an indirect manner, he conveyed the message that the UK's isolation, with a military force of 37,000 soldiers, has resulted in diminished attention from others, acknowledging the relative size of their army compared to other nations, a fact that holds true."
What a man...pity he not our primeminister.
Great interview with Nigel...
He was my boss many years ago.
Sir Michael-"Global Britain is delusional" "Before Brexit and we where in Europe the Americans used to phone us,now they don't." Says it all,no longer treated with respect on the World stage.☹️
America never treated us with respect. We were betrayed at Suez and had to put up with US funded arms shipments for the IRA
yes Farage didn't seem to like being told that
Were not where.
@@turbolevo8703 Usefull contribushun.
@@AlanFagan-y5l
It’s a shame you don’t think standards are important.
Affirmative action (wokeness) equals mediocrity. Meritocracy equals excellence.
It's one of the biggest weaknesses of the West and the dictatorships of the world know it
It’s so refreshing to listen to a mature conversation from a news broadcaster.. thank you.
Michael Grayson is not a news broadcaster !!!!
@@trevaudio ohh forgive me..I though Nigel was…
Why are the RAF only
Recruiting black and
asian people?
Stop fighting, start talking, Putin is ready to talk if only we would talk.
He who shall not be named, will not leave Ukraine, how can peace be sought?
Stop sending weapons and money and the talking will start
@@JesterEric And get out your umbrella
Its in our nature to destroy ourselves its time we changed it and had a world full of peace
All of the arms are too small. When I joined in 1974 my Corps was 55,000 strong alone.
Tell Nigel how it really is!
Well we can thank Nigel and co for the extra £350m a week in our coffers that can go towards the armed forces. Oh wait a minute........
@@richardgallagher4880: Care to share a link to the source of this value?
Nice to see Nigel back
Nigel who took us away from the seat at the table with the US as first port of call as part of the EU? Didn't you hear what he said? Nigel whose a liar?
We can't get the message across to the politicos Sir, because of the lack of quality in the RAF leadership.
Vote for Nigel
oh yes please
what are we voting for him for?
@@Bobisalive Nigel Farage is the only person in mainstream politics that fights for the hard-working people of the United Kingdom. He doesn’t favoured a rich. He simply a fair man. With very good political knowledge and know how. He is the only politician to get the job done right and currently. If Nigel runs for prime minister in 2025, he is 100%. Got my vote
@@MrH1990s yes that is my point, he isn't trying to get any position so there isnt anything to vote him for. so saying "vote for Farage" is just a stupid comment.
@@Bobisalive because many love him , if you dont like him don t watch him
Ex Lightning pilot.Real Cold War Jet jockey .Love it. Top bloke.
"So much of diplomacy relies upon the mailed fist inside the velvet glove." Christopher Myer British diplomat.
Whittle down the armed forces until there is only woke soldiers and officers so you have gave a great force to suppress the people. Unlikely but..... 😂
Sir, splendend. Thank you Nigel. May God bless and protect you.
hear hear
@dr.wianmeintjes9028 Did you miss the part where the guest told "Nigel" that Brexit was terrible for our armed forces or where you being sarcastic?
Which god?
Were a maritime nation, our geography states we need a strong Navy. The RAF has always hated aircraft carriers because it means the Navy gets jets as well as the RAF. The falklands only won because we had movable airfields in the form of carriers. Most wars are littoral and we dont have a luxury of airbases around the world
What a terrible state of our armed forces
Is this the one where he gets told in not quite so many words what a daft idea Brexit was?
We cannot have the Armed Forces we need with the burden of our modern Welfare State.
Go back to playing with your crayons son ffs.
The Aussies and the Kiwis work along side the US and UK (5...I's) and of course the Canadians, the Aussies or Kiwis are not members of NATO
sure, but in Australia they don't ask us, they just tell our government what wars it is to participate in. The UK is welcome to accept a similar position.
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Which is why Ukraine and other old Soviet satellite states should be ineligible to join.
Ps
NZ and Oz are not in the North Atlantic either.
Nigel's understanding of military issue is clearly excellent.
What about getting the Nazis out of Ukraine? Tip toeing around as usual.
Just how old is this article?
He's about 84.
Nigel is hot on his heels. Must be mid 70s
45 minutes
In 1914 and 1939 we deployed a BEF to France which put us smack bang into a European war - why ?? Today we should consider leaving NATO like the French did for many years. Keep our Nuclear deterrent and look after our our overseas commitments and allies - Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Falklands etc
Putin offered us a trade deal. Biden never will
I strongly agree what you have said. we should focus on the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth nations. Unfortunately, charity starts at home. The British government needs to look after the British people first priority. We need younger people in parliament who understands the younger generation, but we also need the older generation to keep the younger generation in Check. We live in a world with so many unknowns, so many homeless people living on the streets, and so many rich people taking advantage of the poor. To this current day, we do not understand why each and everyone of us have been put on this earth. That only explanation I can physically come up with myself, is that God or science put us on this earth and we have done nothing, but disrespect the gift we have been given. It’s time to respect one another, and treat every human as a human, not a scum of the Earth. Every country in the world, teamed up and work together then the world would be a better place. The first thing we need to do is work on how to love one another then we can work on peace. We need to start off with disbanding the military industrial complex.
The British military, since second world not a year has passed have been in some form of milatry conflict
The undertaker of Great Britain should be silenced
Thank you Nigel for making our country less relevant in the world.
bullshi , it was the will of the majority
Canada only spent 1.4 percent of GDP in 2021, on the military.
That’s why Canada doesn’t pay a major role in NATO. Canada is simply in NATO because they are located right next to the US.
RAF Pilot training was privatised some years ago to Babcock a Canadian company I think if my memory is correct. Ask them and at the same time Farage should be asking WHY we are outsourcing fast jet training which has consistently failed to deliver so now many trainee pilots are simply leaving the RAF before even stepping foot inside the cockpit. We have NO control anymore so NF should be on this tack don't you think what happened to taking back control . Come on mate speak up.
Ben Wallace should have resigned in protest years ago because of the pathetic spending on Defence - Gen Sanders will be showing the way shortly !!
Unfortunately Ben Wallace seems to appear as a good defence Minister. He has done the job of what he can do with the budget he has provided and he has turned the military around with huge progress. But however, he is simply out of touch with the day-to-day living of British military personnel. He understands the struggle, but he’s never experienced the struggle. People join the military to protect their country, and I have a long successful career, but Ben Wallace is simply out of touch with the military and the day-to-day needs. The British military shouldn’t have to struggle with simple things, such as food and day-to-day living. 3040 years of underfunding. The British military has really taken its toll for future generations to come. If nothing has changed within the next five years, we will not have a British military to call a British Army.
The racialix of the Western ciuntries us an avsolute negative when it requires dedicated nationalistic personnel who wish to defend the various countries. Generally immigrants who have ran away from their own countries rather than stay and improve it. These people will not have the interest, they can & will run away to other destinations if there are better opportunities.
Nige, only you can save this nation. Trump loves you, that is the only thing that matters!
What we need is an inexhaustible source of cheap power ie nuclear fusion or similar. If we had that, there would be no dependence on foreign energy and no need for any country to encroach on other borders. We also need birth control and we need to throw welfare out of the window. It is destroying humanity, engendering waste and social degeneracy.
A few home truths told to farraige there 😂😂😂😂
The whole country is in decline.Australia here we come.
Brother, don’t do it. Australia is just as stewed as UK, maybe more so. All States and territories are fully communist in all but name.
You could argue that the US has vastly exceeded the 2% if GDP because of the financing, and obviously failing, of Ukraine. This has not been confined to Ukraine but many Middle East countries, Indochina, South America, sll of which they have lost. So much so that it has just about broken the US economy which is now collapsing & will bring down the rest of the Western World
The simple fact is 2% of national GDP is a pathetic example of spending on military as some countries and most countries do not earn the same amount of money per year. Some countries are richer. Some countries are poor. It should be a simple number provided each year save a sample £100 billion for the British military. It shouldn’t be measured in GDP. I personally think the British military should get around 80 to 100 billion per year and to be adjusted by inflation.
Yes Sir Michael, but I remember as Chaplain, when those redundancies were being made, the people who wanted to leave were the really talented ones who could get paid so much more and have better conditions in civvy street and the ones who wanted to stay were often the deadlegs who could not "cut it" in the outside world. Equipment or talent? Hmmmm Ask Ukraine what their greatest asset is. It is motivated, high morale service people.
Ukranian high morale service people. What’s left of the Ukraine army has been press ganged at the point of a gun. Honestly, you “nice people “ are naive bloody menace!
You talk rubbish Nigel. Russia can’t possibly allow US missiles on its Ukraine border via NATO. Daft!!
The grifter is schooled
Russia approves of Nigel's position.
🙄
ollocks
Ver is the R A F
Nice Battle of Britain quote there... how rimes have changed.
Woke leaders have got rid of any dissenters and expect this ideology to continue
Vote for Nigel 2025
It's all very well to say we need to invest more in our military, and I don't disagree, but where's the money coming from? Square this circle for me: Unlimited financial support to Ukraine + Civilian infrastructure investment + Military investment? You can't have all three, we simply don't have the money.
In all my years closely following politics I have scarcely heard a more smug comfortable insider view of a given situation.
NATO has long since stopped being a defence organisation and Russia is not the Soviet Union.
Time have changed boys and Putin is about to hand NATO it’s arse without even breaking a sweat.
As an Englishman it gives me no pleasure to watch our military in such a sociopathic and dismal state.
I expect bastardry from politicians and bankers but I also know that people’s as opposed to governments do not want war and once the large majority realise that a small minority create these problems the so called powers that be and their smug apologists better look out.
Nigey Wigey in the pink hearty tie ngl
😂 Is that Nigel “millionaire Coutts customer” Farage who has been such a political force that he has had 7 electoral defeats ( 5 GE and 2 by elections ) ?!?!
We don't need to spend too much on defence. We followed the Yanks into Iraq and Afghanistan. If we're in the shit, they'll save us.
Maybe, but Biden will make sure we pay for it. If it was Trump, it would be different.
Don't count on it
Biden hates us.
We can't rely on the US, they would be fighting off China whilst us and Europe would be stopping Russia
They were neutral in 1940
All these Brexiteers who were banging on about sovereignty in the run up to the referendum seem to be quited relaxed about Ukraine's sovereignty, particularly its territorial integrity which is probably the most part of sovereignty.