Red Sea attacks
Sir – I was a chief engineer officer in the Merchant Navy and spent 15 years serving under the Red Ensign. I am horrified by the outrage expressed about the military action being taken to ensure the safety of civilian ships going about their lawful – and necessary – business in the Red Sea (report, January 16).
For people of an island nation, we are amazingly ignorant about life at sea. Without those professionals who take up the challenge, our standard of living would be sorely tested. Truly they deserve all the protection available. They are not a hidden luxury; they are an absolute necessity. Paul Hancock
Bristol
Sir – Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, continues to refer to “our deterrent” and “military assets” (“Our ‘can-do’ Army will deal with troop cuts, says Shapps”, report, January 16).
I joined the Army in 1974 and was sent to Northern Ireland, Belize, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, the Congo and Afghanistan. Colleagues fought in the Falklands, Iraq, East Timor and plenty of other places.
In that time we have deterred precisely nothing. As for our “military assets”, they can best be summed up by the two aircraft carriers sitting idle in Portsmouth Harbour while we face a maritime crisis in the Red Sea that affects our security and economy.
The greatest deterrent we have is the sight of British troops on the ground, backed up by appropriate maritime and air assets, clearly ready to go. Sadly, that aspect of our Armed Forces is suffering due to misguided priorities, under-funding, dreadful procurement and the failure to invest in personnel.
If Mr Shapps is not careful he will soon find “can-do” replaced by “used-to-be-able-to-do”. Col Mark Rayner (retd)
Eastbourne, East Sussex
Sir – I’m aware that our Servicemen and women have a “can-do” attitude, but I do not believe it is right, moral or responsible of politicians to put military personnel in a position where they are deployed to defend our country with that attitude to rely on and precious little of anything else. Lady Dutton
Sherborne, Dorset