Cosy Poison Embrace of Qinetiq by Welsh political leaders

Qinetiq slammed over sell off bonaza

But Despite this greed of the highest order, Welsh politicians act as if they could not care less. In January 2007, the QinetiQ-led Metrix Consortium won what is to be the largest investment in Welsh history – a £16 billion contract to build a private military training academy at St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan. The project would thrust Wales to the forefront of the global arms trade, since the business model at the heart of the St Athan Academy is to maximise profits by providing training not just to the British Armed Forces, but to militaries from all over the worldPrivatisation of the military, many fear, as is the case in other sectors, can undermine public accountability and erode ideas of public service and the public good, while achieving little if anything in the way of cost savings.

“The only winners in the privatisation of defence training,” says Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, “are the shareholders of the Metrix Consortium.”

Jill Evans, Plaid MEP, has recently raised concerns about the St Athan Defence Training Academy, particularly because of the Consortium members behind the project, which include other arms companies like Raytheon.

This cosy embrace of QinetiQ by Welsh political leaders over the past few years is puzzling, to say the least, given the country’s supposed commitment to principles of social justice and fairness, good governance, sustainable development and responsible international citizenship.

We are calling for a public debate about the companies involved in the Metrix consortium and we seek assurances that they are not involved in corruption or the trade of unethical weapons like cluster bombs and depleted uranium.

QinetiQ also helps Wales manage and market its new UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) centre at Parc Aberporth – a facility the government has said is a key part of its plans for the regeneration of Cardigan and West Wales. Welsh Assembly Members and Ministers, in welcoming QinetiQ to Parc Aberporth, have spoken glowingly of its “vast expertise” and “international reputation.

PCS View
Recently the MoD won awards at a PFI ceremony for privatising more functions than any other Civil Service department. This is a national scandal. Companies like QinetiQ were flogged off cheap, and now intend to make vast profits from delivering military training. QinetiQ will squeeze every penny out of the MoD that it can, while delivering training where quality is sacrificed to making profits for its shareholders.

This does not benefit the people of South Wales or our service personnel. It benefits QinetiQ, and that's all they're interested in. With recent reports of the breakdown of the military covenant, PCS asks is privatising defence training going to make things better? Our answer is an uneqivocal 'No!'

Watchdog raps mod over Qinetiq sell-off bonanza Register, UK - By Lewis Page → More by this author Analysis UK gov watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) has released a damning report into the privatisation of the ..
..............In effect, then, the MoD still pays to fix up its old test ranges. It does so by borrowing the money from the private sector and then repaying over decades. At the same time it loses ownership of the assets it is paying to fix up............
This is a bit like being an Irish tenant of a rack-renting English landlord before the Republic became independent, paying for any necessary improvements of property you rent at extortionate terms......


Treasury mugged itself BBC News,
A battalion of former military bigwigs last night accused Gordon Brown of being tight-fisted on Britain’s defence. Which adds resonance to today’s judgement ...