In an interview in the last hour Des Browne, the Defence Secretary has accepted responsibility for the selling of the stories!
Wow!
The BBC has this.
It also appears that Tony Blair knew on Sunday that the stories were going to be sold, though Des Browne only spoke to him about it on Tuesday.
I wonder if anyone is going to resign over this? Some how I doubt it.
Having said that the key issue is the actual abductions and making sure they never happen again. They should never have been in a position where there was no air cover, and indeed there may well have been no need for them to have been in that particular part of the gulf.
For more on the hostage crisis see here.
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19 comments:
The words "taking responsibility" , and "the buck stops here" never mean that anyone in New Labour would ever do the honourable thing.
In any even half of the Cabinet will be on their bikes when Gordon takes over.
He's been waiting 10 yrs for his revenge, and it's going to be painful for some.
Maggie Thatcher Fan, To be fair I don't think he will do the honourable thing either!
You do have to wonder what Gordon Brown is going to do when he gets in though. he may want to take some revenge but he may have the brains not to.
it might not be the brains that stops him, it might be lack of courage a la Jim Hacker
Anonymous, Well it is true that he has not displayed the killer instinct, so you may be right!
The buck should have stopped with Tony Blair - but that might have got in the way of his glorious swan-song. No, the buck stops where Tony says it stops, Mr Browne. So grasp your ankles and assume the position...
Marquee Mark, Yes that looks like the way it is going to be.
Browne takes the rap, and even if he falls on his sword will be brought back by the Broon.
Richard Havers, Quite possibly but that would be very bad PR for Gordon. The public would not be impressed by yet another revolving door minister.
I would love to know how they were caught in the first place. These are the cream of British troops, caught and taken away. Is it that easy to take 16 sailors?
Somemone tells us what happened? The truth.
I note Blair is using the same tactic as was used when his wife was in the doo doo over the Bristol flat and that guy Peter ?? Foster)... You've all had a good go at this story, time to move on..... Sadly for him, the media won't buy this crap any more. This story is going to run and run. The media methinks sense a scalp.
Gordon Brown, They were captured because they were in semi rigid craft with no armour and no armourment suitable to fight in the position they were in.
The fact is they should not have been there, with that equipment.
Maggie Thatcher Fan, yes he did. It didn't work then and it isn't going to work now.
Do the Royal Marines still fly Harriers. Wouldn't you think a couple of air-sea missles from a Harrier (or some equivalent aircraft) would have quickly resolved the Iranian terrorits as they neared the small British craft.
Taught those savages a little lesson. Always worked for Reagan.
The Real Sporer, No the Royal Marines never have had. The Fleet air arm of the Royal Navy have, there currently in Afghanistan as I understand it. In any case they were not around for the job.
We do have air assets in Kuwait and Iraq but they were not used and would have taken too long to get there.
The helicopter that was providing air cover that could have done the job was running out of fuel so had to return to ship.
We do have 15 or so frigates which carry helicopters in mothballs, so there is no excuse for this lapse in protection. But then again the whole Iraq and Afghanistan thing has been done on the cheap, largely because that is the way Donald Rumsfeld works. I think he was trying to impress the Iranians with how easy the American army would find it to do on a budget. I don't think that has worked. (And that is putting it mildly)
Well thats OK Des.
And this man is responsible for the Defence of the Realm.
I thought that Tugboat Turney was the lowest in this whole sorry saga but Des and his mate Swiss ( I know nothing) Tony take that Honour.
Anonymous at 8.22, Yes Des and Tony have done serious damage to our armed forces. They should resign.
Yes, BW - Brown has spent 10 years not exhibiting a killer instinct. I don't think it's camouflage. He's frit.
I don't think he'll be the next prime minister, even for a few months. New Labour is a roiling rat's nest of ambition just now and, as they are all fairly stupid people, they will try to have a coup and bugger it up.
Look for Margaret Beckett and her 80 year-old "personal assistant" on the government payroll, her husband, doing reconnaissance past the Treasury in an unmarked caravan.
"Carry on up Whitehall!"
Verity those with ambition seem to know they are fatally damaged, and they know it, whilst those who may have a chance lack the ambition.
As a Conservative I want Brown to win, because that guarantees us the next election.
That said Becket would be a gift from Heaven!
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