From today's Budget - RAF Museum, Stow Maries & Biggin Chapel.

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"Mr Deputy Speaker, in each Budget we have used the LIBOR fines paid by those who demonstrated the very worst values to support those who represent the very best of British values.

Today I can announce a further £75 million of help.

Last week’s service of commemoration reminded us all of the debt we owe to those brave British servicemen and women who served in Afghanistan.

We will provide funds to the regimental charities of every regiment that fought in that conflict; and we will contribute funding to the permanent memorial to those who died there and in Iraq.

And in the 75th anniversary year of the Battle of Britain we will help to renovate the RAF museum at Hendon, the Stow Maries Airfield and the Biggin Hill Chapel Memorial so future generations are reminded of the sacrifice of our airmen in all conflicts.

We will provide £25 million to help our eldest veterans, including nuclear test veterans."

Gerorge Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer - Budget 2015

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Good news from this lousy government for once!

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and we will contribute funding to the permanent memorial to those who died there and in Iraq.

Remind me - does the Bomber Command Memorial receive any Government funding - and if not, why not? in the light of the comment above.

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Good stuff !. I hope they use some of it to sort out the car parking situation.
As well as the swampy ground near the main buildings.

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I may be overly cynical but I can foresee this forum bemoaning the way the money will get spent on the RAFM.

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14 years 10 months

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Is there an election soon????

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17 years 5 months

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Corrrrrrr, They can buy boxes of light switches for Hendon with that :)

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Apparently £1.3m is going to Stow Maries, to build hangars. Excellent, excellent news! :)

£2.5m for RAF Museum London site too.

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Couldn't agree more! Pity to see the good news trashed by cynical comment. Does it really matter why? Let's applaud it when we get it!;)

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I agree with Charlie........

( I cannot believe I just said that ................)

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What I find satisfying is Russell Savory and another partner saw the potential and plowed their money into the initial restoration of Stow Maries, this has just shown that the state and the public have recognise their original efforts to bring the place back to life and in a way applauds those efforts.

http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Stow-Maries-Aerodrome-receive-government-funding/story-26195578-detail/story.html

http://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/north_essex_news/11864204.Stow_Maries_Aerodrome_to_receive___1_3million_thanks_to_badly_behaved_banks/

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Re: RAF Museum, the £2.5m is a lot of money to you and me but only about 20% of their annual budget. So not a game-changer.

Whereas for a smaller museum it would be transformational.

Hence the disappointment-cum-cynicism at a missed opportunity.

But hurrah for Stow Maries!

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From RAF Museum today.

Chancellor of the Exchequer provides RAF Museum with £2.5M in today’s budget
Financial penalties levied on banks involved in the LIBOR lending rate-fixing scandal will benefit the RAF Museum in London, the Chancellor announced in the last Budget before the General Election. George Osborne said the government will help renovate the RAF Museum.
The announcement came after Hendon MP Matthew Offord held discussions with the new Chief Executive of the RAF Museum, Maggie Appleton at the end of February. During these talks Ms Appleton outlined the plans of the Museum to commemorate the centenary of the Royal Air Force in 2018 and asked Matthew what assistance he could provide in securing the support from the Treasury.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said “The RAF Museum in Hendon is a great cause that Matthew Offord has campaigned strongly in support of. I’m delighted that they will get millions of pounds in LIBOR fines – a fitting way to mark the extraordinary contribution the RAF has made and continues to make in service to our country.”
Chief Executive of the RAF Museum Maggie Appleton said “The Museum’s Centenary Project is incredibly important as it commemorates 100 years of the Royal Air Force. The story we tell reflects the bravery, ingenuity and dedication of our people. It is a story that belongs to every one of us. We are therefore very grateful for the support and acknowledgement we received today. We are a happy museum!”

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Re: RAF Museum, the £2.5m is a lot of money to you and me but only about 20% of their annual budget. So not a game-changer.

Whereas for a smaller museum it would be transformational.

Hence the disappointment-cum-cynicism at a missed opportunity.

But hurrah for Stow Maries!

Agreed: the £2.5m should go to Stow Maries (and get a Belfast hangar or two on site - there's one at Filton that's not part of their bid), and Hendon could use their reduced amount to put clear panels in the roof. It's a great museum but why so dark?

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Hopefully the RAF museum will spend some cash on a sprinkler system, all those planes are for the most part sitting under a ton of wood, the odd fire extinguisher dotted around ain't good enough.

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19 years

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There is already a sprinkler system installed. It's called a leaky roof.:D

Brian

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Election soon, and Stow Maries is in a formerly safe (gerrymandered) Tory seat now under threat from UKIP, being in Essex. The MP just happens to be Chair of the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee. The stars were aligned indeed.

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Does anyone seriously believe that lobbing a few million at museums to excite the juices of the aviation enthusiast is buying election votes likely to make scrap of difference?

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Nice positive splash in the local paper. Aviation and its enthusiasts' broader reaction are not the relevant thing here, its about local votes within the constituency. All parties have people focussing on this stuff all the time.

I have just checked and Hendon is an extremely marginal Conservative seat.

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11 years 5 months

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Well I remain sceptical - political focussing is often self-delusional- and still maintain that making cheap political capital out of positive news for the recipients is cynical.

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14 years 5 months

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For the second time in 24 hours I have to say 'don't get me wrong' - this is all very good news. I'll stick to old aeroplane matters from now on.