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Sorry it seems, is not the hardest word
Des Browne gives his version of events.......... for free!
Tuesday 17th April 2007, 22:30
It was supposed to be a move to make Ahmadinejad's propaganda machine seem small time. Instead it made a laughing stock out of the British Armed Forces with the Iranian President himself leading the chorus of laughter. How could they have got it so wrong? Allowing the pride of the British Armed Forces to sell their stories to 'The Sun'?? Even if they had Basil Fawlty as Minister for Defence I doubt such a PR shambles would have ensued. But every one has the right to try to worm, sorry, explain, their way out of a sticky situation and on Monday April 16th, it was Des Browne's.
The Tories waited with bated breath in the House of Commons, sharpening their knives and licking their lips in anticipation and then Browne's time came. What was abundantly clear was that Tony and Gordon had gone off to enjoy the good weather on some beach for the day (now there's a visual for you) and sent the lamb (well lamb dressed as mutton) to the slaughter only to be flanked by bumbling Prescott and under fire Reid. What's that about rats and a sinking ship? He began, as expected, by passing on condolences to families of the servicemen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent days and then moved onto the issue that had the Conservative's Shadow Minister for Defence almost foaming at the mouth- the sailors and marines that had been taken captive by Iran in Iraqi waters. Knowing he had to address a number of issues, Browne catagorised his offences under- what went so wrong that they got captured in the first place and why they were then allowed and then disallowed from selling their stories to the media. Then the counter-propaganda flowed from the mouth of the Minister for Defence. Whilst he accepted responsibility for what went wrong he was equally quick to incriminate the Iranians with charges of detaining the British sailors and marines "illegally" though Liam Fox and then Nick Harvey questioned the actual position of the sailors and their support services. "Where was the helicopter?", Harvey asked. Where indeed. Browne failed to clarify the position or actions of the support services. All he could offer until an enquiry was completed was the basic series of events as he knew them, before swiftly moving onto the diplomacy involved. He argued that the British Government had undertaken intense diplomatic efforts to resolve the situation quickly. He claimed that it was merely an attempt by Ahmadinejad to score a propaganda victory but that there was some confusion as to who had really sanctioned the detention of the personnel due to the internal political struggles within Iran and so no-one really knew who was controlling the situation. One imagines that the marine who was concerned about the safety of his IPod is comforted by this fact i.e. the British Government didn't have a clue who to talk to about keeping his pride and joy safe. Browne also made clear that Britain agreed "No deal" with Iran (where's Noel Edmunds when you need him) and offered "No apology". Now, the crux of the matter- why they were allowed to sell their stories and then not allowed to sell their stories. How very confusing. According to Browne the media had been circling the familes of those held captive for soundbites and once the sailors had been released, rather than abaiting, the media scrum intensified now shifting their focus onto the sailors themselves which meant there was potential for a situation to arise where the sailors entered into unoffical dialogue with the media. It was alleged by Liam Fox that the Press Complaints Commission had offered to assist the the Government in handling the matter but that its offer of help was rejected. Browne accepted that lessons had been learned and confirmed that an investigation into the handling of the media scrum would also take place. The next bit is the most confusing of all. Whose decision is it to allow sailors and marines profit from doing their job? Browne claims he was just asked by the Navy to note that deals were going ahead. The Navy and the regulations governing such matters said the deals were permissable. According to Browne, all parties had acted in good faith. Once the uproar regarding the sale of stories began, he put a stop to the deals going ahead even though an entire day had lapsed between the uproar and the decision which begs the question- where were you Minister? The same beach Tony and Gordon abandoned you for on Monday? Fox was adamant that the 2002 change to the regulations regarding the Navy and its interaction with the media now meant that it was down to the Minister for Defence to accept or reject the airing of views which could be politically controversial. So what is more controversial than potentially winding up the Iranian Government one wonders? Regardless, Browne accepted that he "made a mistake" in his handling of the situation and deeply regretted any erosion of the faith people had in the British Armed Forces-if indeed any such erosion of faith existed. He asserted that he very much doubted the reputation of the Armed Forces had been damaged. He finished his speech by saying that the most important thing was that Britain had gotten their people back on Britain's terms. Reid nodded along in agreement to Browne's left and Prescott managed to maintain concentration on his right. Fox didn't accept Browne's explanation and questioned Browne's appreciation of the the seriousness/implications of his decision to allow the sale of stories. So whilst Harvey refused to ask for the resignation of the Minister for Defence on the grounds that ultimately this was all Blair's fault for going into Iraq and he had not resigned, Fox felt differently. He claimed that members of the Army, Navy and RAF had been angered by unhurt personnel profiting from doing their job and that Browne showed no honour here. His position according to Fox, was now untenable and he should begin to show some honour and resign. But for all his demands it seems that once Browne offered an apology, the words "I'm Sorry" were sufficent to satisfy his qualms. So much for honour and principles eh Liam? So what can be deduced from the actions of all sides in the this matter- the Iranians, the British Government and the Conservatives- is this, brinksmanship is really not their strong point. In the end they are all knocked off their oh so high horse and no matter what cringeworthy bravado they exude whilst backing down, we can all see right through it.
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