the last time i saw illustrious was last summer whilst on a tour of the portsmouth naval yards by boat and she was in dry dock being taken apart... its a sad day when the royal navy has no aircraft carriers and is now seen as no longer a force to be reckoned with.....Britainia no longer rules the waves..... 
I cannot agree with that Bertie. British military power, including the naval element, is still a force to be reckoned with, but in a new 21st century way.
With some key surface ships, and more importantly submarines like the Vanguard and Astute class, they can still wreak havoc anywhere across the planet. Our Air Force can still launch attacks with a multitude of weapons to protect our interests, and the Army must never be underestimated. In fact this country has never had a large standing Army, but now we have the admired force of true professions, highly trained, and no longer just cannon fodder.
If we want larger forces then we will have to pay for them, but judging by so many comments on the OOF and elsewhere, no one is happy in paying higher taxes, or cutting basic services, which would be an answer to gaining a far bigger military!
Some interesting figures for you; in 2011/12 Government expenditure will amount to £702 Billion, of which
spending on Welfare and Education totals 29%
with Health expenditure accounting for 18% of that figure
Defence spending will total £37 Billion 5% of all expenditure
In 1914, before The Great War total Government expenditure was £383 Million
of which Welfare and Education total amounted to 24% of that figure, with NO spending on "Health"
whilst the Defence expenditure was £79 million, no less than 21% of the Governments expenditure.
£50 million of the £79m was on the Royal Navy, which had entered an arms race with Germany since 1897.
So, if you want a large Navy we know what we must do. Stop all displays of Socialism!
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Topic: HMS Invincable - Turkey (Read 2026 times)