The Armed Forces Covenant promises that service men and women will not be disadvantaged as a result of their service. To ensure this is upheld, the five-year time limit needs to be scrapped.
Should Chinese domestic politics push Beijing to stand its ground it will find its regional and global soft power rapidly dwindling.
Brussels-centric politicians and bureaucrats, using cover provided by the Lisbon Treaty, are pushing for the second at the expense of the first.
They were totally unacceptable and shouldn’t happen, but a little part of me understands why they occur.
The island is a model for how the mainland ought to develop.