Is this the end of the Royal Navy asks Bloom ?

In the light of Operation Atalanta, the EU naval mission to the Horn of Africa designed to fight piracy, Godfrey Bloom UKIP MEP has called for clarity about the chain of command.

Mr Bloom says, "As with the real projection of naval force this week off the African coast no one, including very senior naval and military officers seem to know where the chair of command extends beyond Northwood, formerly NATO regional command centre and now the HQ of the EU operations".

He continued "So where does the buck stop? Under whose ultimate control is the naval task force? It is not under the NATO structure, nor presumably the Ministry of Defence and subsequently the cabinet and parliament?

This time it is just piracy. However what if there is an escalation in Iranian waters. Or other potentially hostile state power. I think we should be told. To that end I have asked a series of question of the Council of Ministers for clarification".

Godfrey Bloom, is a graduate of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, Military historian, an ex soldier returned recently of Arkitiri, Cyprus where a major logistics exercise was being carried out and questioned a range of senior British military figures about their new, EU chain of command.