ROYAL AIR FARCE
£30k e-scooters for jet base
THE RAF has been branded the Royal Woke Force after buying eco-friendly electric scooters.
Defence chiefs spent nearly £30,000 of taxpayers’ cash on the 90 devices as a greener way of getting personnel around the vast RAF Marham air base.
They will be used instead of the oldstyle shuttle bus. But pictures of Station Warrant Officer Martin Finney using one have been met with derision.
One person wrote: “What has the RAF turned into? The
Royal Woke Force?”
And former Army commander Colonel Richard
Kemp said recruits should use their feet.
He said: “When I was based at Bassingbourn
– like Marham, a WW2 bomber station, later turned into an infantry training depot – we weren’t equipped with electric scooters to cover the acreage.
“We marched from place to place and if we needed to get somewhere quickly, we ran. I suspect the cost in RAF shoe leather would be less of a burden on the taxpayer than these expensive scooters.”
The Air Force said the scooters will save tens of thousands of pounds a year in fuel costs. But it hasn’t stopped critics mocking the images it posted on Facebook.
One sneered: “Pictures of RAF personnel in yellow hi-vis jackets wearing cycling helmets will terrify President Putin.” A senior Army officer added: “The pictures are truly dreadful. The RAF is meant to be a fighting force. I can fully understand the need to reduce carbon emissions, but not like this. The RAF seems to be happy being a laughing stock. “Eight-two years ago brave young men were sacrificing their lives in the Battle of Britain – they must be turning in their graves.” RAF Marham Station Commander Group Captain Jim Beck said: “As part of project Astra, which is striving to create a better and more efficient RAF, RAF Marham have introduced e-scooters for our personnel to reduce carbon vehicle use.
“This has enabled greener and more flexible transport with the added bonus of saving money.” The Ministry of Defence confirmed a similar trial is taking place at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire.