And two weeks later

It didn't take the News of the World long to agree with the nation and turn on the sailors that sold their story to the papers.

Arthur Batchelor,you may recall was the youngest who was most upset after the Iranians pinched his eye pop.

Well the paper has pictures of the very same lording it up whilst on compassionate leave

"POKING out his tongue and dribbling alcopops, the youngest Brit seaman held hostage in Iran giggles hysterically as a pal holds a toy gun to his throat in a crowded nightclub."


"One Royal Marine said last night: "This is disgraceful—an insult to all his colleagues.
"One minute Batchelor is blubbing like a baby and the next he is taking the p*** out of what happened to him and his mates. They all went through a tough time and many are still traumatised by their awful experience. But to turn it into a joke isn't on."

Sour grapes from the Mail?

The Sun carries an article this morning written by Andy McNab that seeks to justify Faye Turney's selling of the story to the paper.

Andy,former SAS hero, is the Sun's security correspondent who argues that the captured sailors

"When they returned safe and well should have been given heroes’ welcomes.
Instead the armchair generals at home — led by an at times hysterical Daily Mail — have tried to pour scorn on these brave sailors."

"And the rent-a-quotes have suggested being taken hostage by the Iranians was like a fortnight in Butlins. "

He also suggests that one of the reasons for the Mail's hostility is that it was beaten to the story by the Sun after a“very substantial sum”.

Turney turned down the offer because the Sun is the paper of the forces and the Mail is rarely read in the mess halls.

update

Polly Toynbee joins the debate in the Guardian under the article"Our press, the worst in the west, demoralises us all

"The Ministry of Defence agreed to pass bids on to the sailors: the Daily Mail emailed an offer of "a very substantial sum". The Mail on Sunday combined its bid with the Sunday Mirror and jointly offered £100,000 in another email. The News of the World offered to outbid all others. Sky made an offer but the BBC did not. The Daily Express offered £30,000."

So both the Mail and the Express joined the auction,both papers the fiercest critics of the policy.

But Polly continues her tirade against the press describing them as

"The British press, the worst in the west, demoralises the national psyche. It makes people miserable. It raises false fears. It proclaims that nothing works, everything gets worse, and it urges distrust of any public official or politician. Now it has the government on the run and a chance for Tory victory, there is no holding back its doom-mongering in this most healthy, safe and prosperous age."

Harsh words indeed Polly but obviously not including the Guardian?There are some rather sweeping statements being made and the final paragraph also makes interesting reading

"What is so squalid about these newspapers is their use of figleaf sermons to cover their real business, done with corrupting chequebook, threat, intimidation, invasion of privacy, paparazzi aggression and vicious cruelty. Labour should use this disgrace to reign in chequebook tell-all by public servants, from those at the top such as Christopher Meyer to those at the bottom such as these sailors. It's time to look again at privacy legislation, a quid pro quo for the Freedom of Information Act the press abuses with petty assaults on government. The media is in danger of making government by any party impossible."

Much as I admire a lot of Polly writing I believe this to be really over the top.The main cause of this episode was not the press but the decision by the MOD to allow the sailors to sell their stories in the first place.

Batchelor and Bean

It seems that publicity breeds publicity and for some reason,I can't find a great deal of sympathy for Arthur Bachelor who is reaping the reward for selling his story to the Mirror.Arthur was the youngest of the 15 sailors who strayed into Iranian waters and famously told the paper that he was upset that the Iranians had pinched his i-pod.

Quite what a sailor on duty was doing listening to an i-pod is another matter.

When I read the story in this morning's Guardian"Website chatter turns up the heat on Mr Bean".

Both Arthur and Faye Turney who appeared with Trevor McDonald on Monday night are getting a fair amount of critisism for all quarters.

He who pays the piper?

A victory for common sense.

It has taken them a few days but finally the government recognises the error of its ways and reverses its decision to let the sailors sell their stories to the media.

"After a day of sustained criticism Mr Browne imposed an immediate ban on any Armed Forces personnel accepting money for television or newspaper interviews, admitting that the outcome of the sailors’ interviews “was not satisfactory”. (Times 10.4.07)

It appears that the furore yesterday was already taking its toll on some of the 15 with some giving their stories for free

"Lord Heseltine, the former deputy prime minister and defence secretary, said the decision was tantamount to saying: "Look lads, Rupert Murdoch's Sun has taken over. He's got the big cheque books and if he's prepared to pay to hell with any rules or regulations, any understandings, any customs, any traditions, it's all up for grabs.' That's called New Labour. I am profoundly shocked.
"What an extraordinary story, that people who every day take calculated risks with their lives are expected to earn relatively small sums of money whilst people who get themselves taken hostage, in circumstances which are worth exploring, can make a killing. I have never heard anything so appalling,"(Guardian 10.4.07)

Meanwhile the reality of the situation in the Middle East was brought home as President Ahmadinejad claimed

yesterday to have made a dramatic leap forward in its nuclear programme by enriching uranium "on an industrial scale", a move likely to accelerate a collision with the US and strengthen calls in Washington for military action.
In a gesture of defiance to President George Bush and the UN security council, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad trumpeted the claim, making the announcement with pomp and ceremony at the heart of Iran's nuclear programme, the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.(Guardian 10.4.07)

Should they or shouldnt they?

The decision of the Mod to allow the captured British sailors to sell their stories to the papers has been roundly criticised by the media this morning.

The Sun snapped up the best story that of the only women in the ordeal Faye Turney whilst the Mirror interviews the youngest of the party Arthur Bachelor.

Since the capture of the sailors two weeks ago,the incident has provoked much media fury,the Mail in particular leading a crusade against the Mod and the foreign office for what it saw as the roll over and die attitude of the British government.

The release of the 15 as an Easter gift by President Ad was seen as propaganda victory for the Iranian's and another nail in the imperial ambitions of the British government.Its coinciding with the deaths of four British soldiers on the roadside in Basra brought home the real realities of war and the Press were quick to point out the apparent contradiction.

Apart from the two red tops all the papers report this morning on the fury over the decision,the Times with a particular poignant article on its front page where the mother of one of the servicemen killed on Thursday attacks the Mod giving permission to sell the stories.

Joan Smith writing in the Independent says"Press payments will undermine credibility"

"Like contestants emerging from the Big Brother house - and I intend the comparison as a comment on the behaviour of the British press, not to belittle the hostages' ghastly experience - they have been through something just about everyone wants to know about, regardless of the fact that they are serving members of the armed forces. "

Is this another example of Big Brother mentality and are we all simply living in a goldfish bowl where all our actions are open to press intrusion.The comments of Alex Ferguson last week who blamed the hounding of England Manager Steve McClaren on the reality show culture spring to mind.

The Guardian quotes William Hague who says

"If, whenever people have been in a difficult situation, they are going to be allowed to sell their story quickly after that, then I think we are going to lose steadily that dignity and respect for our armed forces."

Peter Preston writing in the same paper says

After kiss and tell, it seems, we now have surrender and tell (as in, pick up a couple of years' worth of service pay for telling the Daily Bugle and Independent Sensational News how 13 days in Iranian custody seemed to you). These are "exceptional circumstances", says the MoD, granting exceptional rights to the Shatt al-Arab 15. They can sell their tales to the highest bidder: and Faye Turney - the lady with the drooping fag - will probably make more than the rest put together. It may not always be a woman's life in Her Majesty's Navy, but Fleet Street certainly knows what shifts copies across newsagents' counters.

What therefore are the counter arguments.

VOICE OF THE DAILY MIRROR: LET THEM SPEAK OUT

"The recent criticism from armchair warriors is unjustified when we learn exactly what went on in Iran.
Opposition attacks on the Ministry of Defence's sensible decision to let each personally decide how to tell their story is just party politics - with the real target being the Labour government.
Yet there's also a whiff of snobbery in the sniping - of admirals and generals enjoying pats on the back when they go public with flak reserved for the ranks.
This was an exceptional set of circumstances, with 15 brave service personnel kidnapped and paraded on our screens. That surely means we have a right to know what really went on there.
Gagging them would serve only the interests of Iranian propagandists - and deny Britons the truth of what really happened. "



Is the rational of the paper yet it didn't need paying for.The stories that have come out of their captivity do need to be told but why should their situation be any different to others in the armed forces?Faye Turney says that she wants the people to know.I agree but this can be done through the normal channels of a Press conference.It does not justify taking money.

The reports that some of them will donate their fees to charity does not amke it any better although stories this morning suggest that some are having second thoughts.