I NOTICE that there is a cross-party consensus at Holyrood to appeal to the Prime Minister in an effort to save the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre, better known as the RAF Air-Sea and Mountain Rescue Unit, based at Kinloss in Moray.

 

Despite Scotland's strategic position in Nato's defence shield at the northern tip of the European continent, the UK Government and Ministry of Defence seem determined to remove almost all of its military presence here. Is this merely a penny-pinching cost-saving exercise, or a political reaction to punish us for having the temerity to elect two successive SNP governments to Holyrood while returning only one Tory MP to Westminster in recent years? Either way, it makes little sense.

Since 2010 the number of Army personnel based in Scotland is much less than was originally promised following the reduction of forces in Germany, and several army bases around Scotland have been closed. Not a single Royal Navy warship is based in Scotland (apart from the useless and vastly-expensive Trident fleet) in seas regarded as strategically important and potentially vulnerable, as evidenced by recent incursions of Russian naval vessels into territorial waters. Even our vital coastguard service has been decimated, with many smaller stations closed and central control now transferred to Belfast.

Two of our three major RAF stations have been closed and some squadrons transferred elsewhere, while the crazy decision was taken to abandon our vital maritime air patrol capability and physically destroy the new fleet of Nimrod reconnaissance planes already under construction for this precise purpose.

Now the latest irrational decision is to close down the world-famous air-sea and mountain rescue service at the Kinloss base, now an Army barracks, and transfer central control to Fareham on the south coast of England, some 600 miles away from where most of the need for urgent help arises. The saving will amount to a few civilian staff and about 25 RAF personnel - that is less than half the number of soldiers used for ceremonial guard duties at Buckingham Palace every day!

Many years ago I was based at RAF Kinloss and saw for myself the high calibre, skill and dedication of those involved in the Rescue Unit. For more than 70 years it has been praised for its life-saving work, both in the hostile seas around Scotland and the mountain ranges within a few minutes flying distance. Since then many thousands have been rescued from life-threatening situations and hundreds of lives saved. It is a scandal that this small unit is now to be sacrificed at the altar of cost savings and deficit reduction, when these will be infinitesimal compared to the loss of such a vital life-saving service in Scotland.

Iain AD Mann,

7 Kelvin Court, Glasgow.