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GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

It is very humbling for those of us who are still in uniform and indeed I know obviously many veterans.  I think obviously 10 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought back home to people who had rather forgotten it during the period of the Cold War just what it’s about, and I do think, while I know there is criticism of generals and all those others involved in Afghanistan, that broadly they see this in line with this same tradition that’s been commemorated for 90 years plus now of being prepared to fight for your freedom, and you have in our armed forces people who are prepared to go and fight for others and they're trying to make a point that they appreciate us.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

But it’s certainly reached down, hasn’t it, to people who say well look, I think the Iraq campaign was a mistake, I'm not sure about the outcome from Afghanistan but we leave that aside, I just appreciate what the boots on the ground, the men and the women there who are carrying out the operations, I appreciate what they're doing and what they're sacrificing. 

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

I think that’s the point, it’s beyond the politics, it’s about people and at the end of the day many, many more people now meet and come across soldiers because we’re now making a great effort to get out amongst the people as homecoming parades and all that sort of thing, so there is a much closer linkage than there was I think through the period of the Cold War when a hell of a lot of the armed forces were in Germany, for example.  So I think it is a lot about people and respect for those who are prepared to go and fight for other peoples’ freedoms and necessarily lay down their lives.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

But it looked like it was beginning to die out a bit, didn’t it, while you and I were growing up, I think the ‘70s and ‘80s, and then revived you think because of this long period of military campaigns over the last …

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

Yes, that’s my view, Ross Kemp’s documentaries, all those things, the media generally, for good or ill, have never, as far as I'm aware and I never felt it serving in some of these operations, have never made the mistake of trying to pin the rose, as Americans would say, on us.  They may have criticism of the policy makers and sadly sometimes the generals and the way we interpret that policy but they’ve always had, I think you would agree, great respect for the people who actually go out there and do our country’s business for us with all the risks that entails for them. 

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

What did you think then about the banning just before Remembrance Day of Muslims Against Crusades, who of course burnt poppies last time around.  It has been said that people who fought in campaigns fought for the right of freedom of expression and part of that freedom of expression, like it or not, is the right to burn the poppy if you disagree with it.

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

I agree and I think funnily enough we do take that point very seriously, it is important to us we fight for people’s freedoms.  From my perspective I think the right decision was taken and I have amongst other things, I'm President of the Armed Forces Muslim Association.  Indeed, on Friday, I went to their Eid celebrations, I have done for a number of years.  So I know that the vast, vast majority of Muslims are very patriotic, enjoy living here, indeed many of them are in the armed forces.  We all have fringe, problem children and I think they were in that category.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

Were you fuming during the row with FIFA, were you quietly fuming?  I know you couldn’t express an opinion.

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

I think the right decision was taken.  Politics, I try to keep out of it and not often successfully enough but no, I think the right decision was taken and am just grateful to the Prime Minister and Prince William.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

Can I ask you about of course the permanent memorial, the National Arboretum, there has been talk about its budget, its grant aid being cut by a quarter.  Presumably that’s something you would fight against?

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

Absolutely.  I only heard about this recently, all I can tell you is all sorts of options in a cash strapped era, we absolutely understand that our fiscal situation as a nation is the biggest strategic problem confronting us at the moment, so all these options are rightly put forward.  I'm pretty confident that one won’t be taken.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

You mentioned the cash strapped era, let me talk about the most recent campaign, Libya, took place during of course the beginning of the implementation of the SDSR, a successful outcome but the SDSR continues to bite.  Could an operation like that be carried out, you feel, by the military, in two, three, four years’ time?

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

The answer is yes.  It does become more challenging, I don't think anyone can pretend that you can inflict the sort of reductions which we have been a part of and understand the reason for, and still with the same flexibility and spontaneity do things like we’ve just done in Libya, but the fact is if a Libya came along in three years’ time, while it would be more challenging we can still do it and it’s all about what else we couldn’t do at the same time.  And so our flexibility is reduced but our ability to do any single campaign will absolutely be protected.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

There are still huge challenges, clear and present dangers emerging from that region in terms of Syria and indeed beyond that, Iran.  What kind of contingency planning is taking place?

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

We’re a pretty boring lot, the military and we assume the worst, so we do plan all sorts of contingencies, the vast majority of which are just good exercises.  So yes, we’ve got, as you would expect I hope, that we would and we’ve got a lot plans in the locker and we talk to other nations that would inevitably be involved in them, so that if ever the situation deteriorated to the point where armed forces would have to be used, we can do it quickly and efficiently.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

But we know how spooked the Israelis are about developments coming out of Iran, the IAEA it’s moving forward on this development of nuclear weapons.  You’ve been talking to the Israelis?

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

Yes, it was a very educational visit because I've, like a lot of people, been sort of quietly, because it’s not my job to do it openly, sort of slightly critical of why they're doing what they are.  Going there made me realise that they're absolutely determined to accept the consequences of, if necessary, further conflict to protect their way of life, and if you drive around Tel Aviv or go up to Jerusalem you see day to day, it’s actually a very comfortable lifestyle and they’ll fight to preserve it.  But at the same time, they're quite clear they don't want to have to fight and I met Ehud Barak as he then subsequently came over here, spoke to our Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary, and made the same point clear.  I've no doubt that somewhere out there is that risk of them going to fight for what they believe is a fundamental risk they can’t accept, but no one wants to do it, but it’s in that contingency bracket.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

Can I ask finally, General Richards, about the Duke of Cambridge.  We’ve touched upon a couple of times there the FIFA row and of course his involvement in the whole Remembrance Day process as well.  He’s being deployed now next year to the Falklands.  Do you feel in any sense that that is provocative when it comes to the Argentineans?

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

 Well first of all I can absolutely tell you it wasn’t and isn’t designed to be.  Prince William, we’re very proud of it, along with his brother, Prince Harry, are regular members of the armed forces and they do their stint in the roster that comes all our ways.  So I hope it’s not interpreted like that.  Relations between our two nations, Argentina and Britain, are pretty constructive, there has been no talk of … you know, no warlike talk from Argentina.  They clearly do disagree with us over the Falkland Islands but we’re all determined not to repeat the mistakes of 1982 and just think about it, it’s a democratically elected government, it’s not a military dictatorship looking for another way of solving their domestic problems by diverting attention.  It just isn’t in the same bracket as it was back then and we’re delighted that he’s going out there to do a very, very important and challenging job.

DERMOT MURNAGHAN:

I think I know the answer to this question – is anything special done to keep him out of real harm’s way?

GENERAL SIR DAVID RICHARDS:

Absolutely not and he wouldn’t want that and nor would you or I.  And we’re just, as I said, delighted that the relationship between the Royal family and the armed forces is as strong as it always has been and even more so in that the heir to the Crown and his brother are both members of the armed forces. 

ENDS

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