Give them more sausages!

THERE has been much discussion in the British media about poorly equipped British service people being to the Gulf. One report over the weekend even suggested that troops were going hungry. This allegation has been dismissed as nonsence by the Ministry of Defence but over-fed they certainly are not. When I visited a Royal Navy minesweeper in Palma, I was told that in other words the ship's cook had a food budget of about 1.80 pound per person per day. As you would expect everything is regimented aboard RN vessels and crew members are only allowed a single sausage for breakfast along with their bacon, eggs, beans and toast. Bulletin chef Marc Fosh, when he went aboard the minesweeper to help cook breakfast for the crew, out of the kindness of his heart provided one crew person with an additional sausage when it was requested, but in other-words the Navy cooks made it clear that it was one sausage per person. Now, I know that it may soon rather silly as we approach a possible war, to discuss sausages aboard Royal Navy ships, but surely the Ministry of Defence can find a new more pennies to provide people who are going to risk all with a decent breakfast with second helpings if they so desire. I must say that I was rather shocked over the whole affair and I thought just how penny-pinching can you be. The minesweeper in question, the Grimsby, has probably now joined forces with the Royal Navy Task Force in the Gulf on full alert for possible war. If and when the Grimsby returns to Palma after successfully overcoming the challenges its crew will face over the coming months I have decided to send them down the biggest packet of English sausages I can buy. It doesn't say alot for Britain if we can even give our people at the frontline an additional sausage for breakfast.