media

The cost of rescues

From WebForum

Sender: Jonathan Gornall 15-08-2004 14:08

First, a big thank you to everyone who fussed over the crew of Pink Lady on our return to dry land, and of course undying gratitude to the UK Coastguard, the crew of the Nimrod that roared into our lives a week ago, and the master and crew of the Scandinavian Reefer, whose superb seamanship plucked us from some pretty angry seas. After 39 days on dried food, I, for one, will never forget that breakfast of bacon and eggs.

And now, a big raspberry to those of my colleagues in the press who, stuck for original thought once the rescue story had played, did the dull, predictable thing and started carping about the cost of such rescue missions. My thoughts on this for anyone else who finds themselves in this position: the rescue services are funded by taxpayers. All four men on Pink Lady are, and always have been, taxpayers, and not one of them has ever called on the state to provide them with anything. One newspaper ran as panel listing other things that could have been bought with the Ј120,000 it supposedly costs to launch a Nimrod. It included heart and lung operations of the type normally relied upon in later life by those who have abused their bodies with cigarettes and alcohol.

Setting aside my surprise at learning that the RAF was now carrying out such ops, I think it is worth pointing out that all of the crew of Pink Lady is reasonably fit, and not one of them smokes, or drinks to excess (well, sometimes, maybe) and so is unlikely to call upon the state to spend money on providing new hearts or lungs. Two of the guys on the boat have fought, and risked their lives, for their country; one has seen his son go off to fight in Iraq; one is a fulltime fireman and we all know what great work they do for very little money.

Scrambling a Nimrod and a helicopter might well cost a notional Ј120,000, but compare that with the cost of staging a fullscale training exercise, for which regulations require expensive back-up assets in the air and on water ... and there is no training exercise like the real thing.

Those who criticise adventurers such as ocean rowers (or climbers, or sailors or anyone else who dares to put themselves out on the edge) forget that it is such people who have, over the centuries, pushed back the frontiers of human knowledge and inspired others to turn their dreams into reality. The responses on our message board, from all over the world, were overwhelming in that respect.

I wrote in The Times about the beautiful sound and sight of the Nimrod roaring over our fragile liferaft. It is a fitting PS - and a deserved slap in the face to the snide, armchair critics - that the RAF and the crew of that very aircraft have invited the crew of Pink Lady to meet them on Friday at Lossiemouth. We will be proud to shake their hands, and long may our taxes ensure that this country is able to mount such an impressive and humane response in defence of man's instinctive drive to explore and push back boundaries.