Sir Ming, that stalwart North East Fife Libdem MP, has launched an unprecedented attack on his party colleague Danny Alexander over the closure of Leuchars RAF base.
He has even suggested Mr Alexander interfered in the basing review to save his parliamentary seat. Surely Danny Alexander wouldn't use his position as chief secretary to the Treasury to influence vital decisions relating to the defence of the UK?
Sir Ming thinks otherwise and has accused the whipper-snapper of lobbying for the retention of Lossiemouth, which borders his Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, to 'assist his political credibility'. Tensions are so bad within the Libdems that party bosses were forced to bring them together for a clear-the-air-meeting, but that appears to be unsuccessful and now Sir Ming has chosen to vent his anger publicly.
"It's a remarkable coincidence that these decisions should have been thought to assist the political credibility of the chief secretary to the Treasury. Or is it?
"The result of the closure of Leuchars is that the RAF has been banished to the north of Scotland. The army's preferences have been met at the expense of proper strategic analysis."
Of course Sir Ming's outburst is to assist his own credibility as he wants to be seen as fighting to the bitter end to keep the RAF in his constituency, but such infighting by senior government members forces me to consider whether anyone in the Westminster government has a clue about military strategy and to suggest that today's policies are being made on a wing and a prayer.
Alex Salmond welcomed the change of use at Leuchars from RAF to Army as 'a substantial consolation prize' for Fife and I can only agree it will benefit the area as much as the RAF's presence.
One important aspect of the changeover which hasn't been mentioned by Liam Fox, Sir Ming or Danny Alexander is the airstrip. A couple of months ago Ryanair visited the base to check out the new £27m runway but nothing more has been said about its future - until now.
Alex Salmond is to ask the MoD to examine the possibility of the air strip being used for commercial airline flights and he hopes to convince the MoD to make it an 'embarkation point' for troops across Scotland. If Scotland is to have a major increase is Army personnel, Leuchars would be the most sensible aviation base for them; thus avoiding the costs of using commercial airports such as Edinburgh and Prestwick.
The Scottish government also wants to investigate the base being used for commercial flights and this must be encouraged. Leuchars is currently used for private flights - mainly for those visiting St Andrews - but it would be an act of folly to allow the newly refurbished air strip to lie unused.
Such a shame Sir Ming and the manny Danny couldn't put their energies into ensuring the MoD and Westminster government give this issue a high priority, rather than conduct an argument in public which is of little, or any, interest to the public.
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