They did a bad job and now they are paying for it...

HMS Victory

 

If I remember rightly, HMS Victory is still technically part of the Navy's fleet....

Quite near me are a whole load of oaks grown for the Navy but not needed because iron came along. They are still there, the spacing and straightness gives away their origin, a place called Alice Holt Forest. Maybe they will call harvest time to restore the ol' Victory.

 

I watched a program on the restoration of an old church in england where they replaced the oak beams in the roof. The new timber came from a tree which was planted for that purpose 400 years ago when the church was built. Now thats pretty impressive foresight.

 

On the 5th March 2012, custodianship of HMS Victory was transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the HMS Victory Preservation Trust, established as part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

HMS Victory continues to be a commissioned warship of the Royal Navy under her Commanding Officer and ship’s company and remains as the flagship of the Second Sea Lord until she is made the flagship of the First Sea Lord.

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/our-organisation/where-we-are/heritage/hms-victory

Telegraph article from 2011 about the Victory's condition http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ear...-being-pulled-apart-under-its-own-weight.html

 

Was aboard her last year. Overall in good shape, but tending to deck leaks on this and any old ship requires a commitment. Glad to hear they've got some oaks on reserve her. Amazing amount of arms on this boat. I feel sorry for any dumb pirates who try to overtake her. They'll be riddled with many bullets and speared by many a sword. Arghhh!!!

 

JosephT,

To err is human, to arghh is pirate.

There is a suggestion that HP should have some £3 billion spent on it.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/21/palace-westminster-renovation-cost-taxpayers-3bn

Spend it on HMS Victory & **** HMG.

 

£3 B, it figures today's military budget crunchers would come up with that figure. I'm sure they're building their own retirement packages around it.

Vice Admiral Nelson would be rolling over in his grave...

 

I have a solution....... pre qualify any potential member of the house with a seven year apprenticeship in their choice of stonemason, brickie, plumber, joiner, carpenter, tiler, glazier, painter etc. on the renovation, some skilled & tough taskmasters from the trades to teach & mentor with top results expected at tech as a prerequisite also.
Thus the members might not be so shocked at the cost especially once they paid off their tuition.... & a great result for the people

Jeff

 

Jeff,

That's a good idea, but learning on the job might be detrimental to the end result. As most of our politicians have never done a proper job, how about if only those who have worked professionally in the requisite trade as stonemason, bricklayer, plumber, joiner, carpenter, tiler, glazier, painter etc., be permitted to stand for Parliament.

They build during the day & sit as MPs at night. Then they won't waste time arguing the toss, as they'll want to get some kip. I'm also inclined towards making a clean sweep, by constructing the new building further downstream on an artificial island, close to the S S Montgomery. Then, if the MPs get above themselves, the barrels of gunpowder will already be in situ, so to speak.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Estuary_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery

 

If you just banned people with law, economics and politics degrees (for a first cut) plus other degrees that didn't involve passing a fairly rigorous statistics course, the problem would lessen.

Good luck trying to implement that, though, given the demographic.....

PDW

 

Geez, what would politics be without shysters? No fun at all, I bet.

 

Boat builders should be in charge. They do not have delusions of grandeur. Building & navigating the ship of state requires ability & honesty. A boat builder is not going to use poor materials to construct a vessel that could sink under him.

The UK Government announced today it is changing the national emblem from the Union Jack to a condom because it better reflects the Government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of dicks & gives you a sense of security while you are being screwed!