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No 10 is accused of masterminding sale of hostages' stories
Last updated at 12:52pm on 11.04.07Tony Blair has been dragged into the "cash for hostages" fiasco as he is accused of allowing the Iran captives to sell their stories as part of a crude Government spin operation.
General Sir Michael Rose, one of Britain's most respected former Army officers, said he was convinced the decision to allow 15 sailors and Marines held captive in Iran to cash in on their ordeals had been driven by the Prime Minister's office.
MPs from all sides of the Commons said they too suspected a deliberate strategy aimed at hitting back at Iran, widely seen to have won the "propaganda war" during the detainees' time in captivity.
As anger grew over the decision to allow Leading Seaman Faye Turney and her fellow captives sell their accounts, the Government refused to explain why ministers failed to intervene.
Gesture: Faye Turney back home in Plymouth
Downing Street has confirmed that the Prime Minister was notified of the decision, but yesterday repeatedly refused to say when.
In an ominous development for Defence Secretary Des Browne, Number Ten appeared to be attempting to lay the blame for the debacle firmly at the door of the Ministry of Defence.
Leading Seaman Turney was not among the captives who appeared at an open-to-all Ministry of Defence press conference on Friday - prompting suspicions that she was "held back" to increase the value and impact of her story.
In the end, she did a deal with the Labour-supporting Sun newspaper, which has close links to Downing Street, and ITV's Tonight with Trevor Macdonald programme.
Mr Browne is expected to be hauled before MPs on Monday to answer questions about why Mrs Turney and another captive, Arthur Batchelor, were allowed to hawk their stories for enormous sums.
In the past, the Queen's Regulations, which govern the behaviour of personnel, have been understood to ban chequebook interviews.
Des Browne (top) and David Hill
MoD officials claimed Mr Browne had been asked to "note" the Navy's different interpretation of the rules, rather than approve it.
But Sir Michael, who led the UN force in Bosnia, said: "In my view, the decision to treat the returning hostages as heroes from the outset can only have come from Downing Street - for I cannot believe that any Service chief would have signed up to a policy that is so ultimately damaging to the military ethos.
"There would, however, be a clear political advantage for Blair, who had so evidently mishandled the initial diplomatic situation, and who had been continually outmanoeuvred by President Ahmadinejad throughout the crisis, to receive the returnees as heroes."
The Tories blamed "ministerial incompetence" for the controversy, accusing Labour of putting spin before the "dignity, professionalism and discipline" of the Armed Forces.
And former Labour defence minister Peter Kilfoyle accused ministers of shirking responsibility for a decision that "beggared belief" and had made Britain's Armed Forces a "laughing stock" around the world.
"What you cannot get away from is that responsibility rests with ministers," he said.
Former Tory Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said both the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary must now spell out clearly their involvement in the affair.
"If Mr Blair was indeed aware of it, it shows his judgement was just as poor as Des Browne's," he said.
"I think we can safely assume that if these soldiers and Marines had been in any way critical of the Ministry of Defence or the Government, they would not have been given permission to give these interviews."
Kelvin MacKenzie, the former editor of the Sun, also hinted at political involvement.
"I know that David Hill (Mr Blair's director of communications) was whistling round newspaper offices last week asking editors if they needed help with their editorials in relation to the freeing of the 15 - ie that you must get over the sense that Tony Blair had had a major triumph," he said.
Air Marshal Sir John Walker, former chief of Defence Intelligence, demanded to know who was responsible for the "divisive decision" to allow the personnel to sell their stories.
He said allowing them to do so had been "profoundly damaging" and smacked of a "knee-jerk effort to get column inches".
The head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has also let it be known he was appalled by the decision.
Education Secretary Alan Johnson - favourite to become Labour's next deputy leader - admitted it had been "wrong" to allow military personnel to take money.
A ban has been hastily imposed on any more paid interviews, pending a review.
Mr Johnson said: "Des Browne is a very good Secretary of State. This is not an issue that should call into question his job.
"These things happen in government when there's a short time-span. Very quick decisions have to be made.
"We actually think some of these decisions were the wrong decisions, which is why we are revising them to ensure we don't set any dangerous precedent."
The permission granted by ministers also led to a "heated" squabble over money among the hostages, it is understood.
A bitter argument raged between the Royal Marines of the group, who suggested equally sharing the spoils of any media fees, and the Navy sailors, who wanted to keep the cash.
A military source said: "The Marines were firmly of the view that whatever money they got should be shared out equally, in the traditional spirit of military comradeship. But the sailors wanted to keep anything they earned.
"Someone stood up and suggested to Faye Turney she should share the money, but she didn't want that. It was a very heated discussion, to put it mildly."
Mrs Turney has pledged to give "a percentage" of her fee to the crew of her ship, HMS Cornwall, and place the rest in a trust fund for her three-year-old daughter Molly.
She is presently on compassionate leave, but her future in the Navy appears far from certain.
One senior military source said: "It is gong to be very difficult for her when she returns to work.
"If you're in the Army or Navy, the people in your unit are your second family. You work together, fight together, socialise together. You don't stab them in the back by walking off with a load of money."
An entry on the Army Rumour Service said: "I imagine there are servicewomen up and down the country with mouths agape at this walking embarrassment to her cap badge."
Another contributor wrote: "I dare not watch it (Turney's interview) as the TV would be out the window. She has set back the reputation of servicewomen everywhere."
Navy chiefs are also said to be smarting at the almost universal condemnation.
The First Sea Lord Sir Jonathon Band is under intense pressure to explain what part he played in the damaging strategy.
A spokesman for Mr Blair insisted: "This was a decision taken by the Navy. What's now important is to look into the issues in the round. I'm not going to get into the process of who knew what when."
Reader views (27)
The whole affair has been marked by cowardice from the start.
They should not have meekly given in. Who gave the order to allow them to do so?
They should not have cowtowed to the Iranians and done as they asked, appearing on TV and lying. I find it hard to believe that servicemen are told to do this, or told it will be alright to do so! Again who allowed them to do this?
What action did their ship take to stop them being captured? If any? On whose orders?
I think a few court martials should be convened.
- Dave H, Liverpool, England
Proof that this situation is a shambles... Tony Blair has disappeared from view, hasn't he!
No reflected glory for the Prime Minister to bask in here, is there?
- Steve R, London, UK
Can I volunteer to play table tennis in Iran for a couple of weeks and get £100,000?
The food can't be bad as our Faye proves!
- Japeth, London SW8
I think the gesture being made by Faye Turney says it all.
- Stephen, London
Tony Blair has shown little regard for the military throughout his entire decade in office, sending them to needless war after needless war and refusing to meet the families of the deceased. Now he has allowed them to ridicule themselves in this manner - Royal Navy personnel were encouraged to sell blatant propaganda to newspapers known for sensationalism and fact-light reporting. One sailor has even admitted to the world that being called 'Mr Bean' upset him and he cried himself to sleep every night. It's official - Mr Blair hates the military as much as he hates the rest of us, despite them spilling much blood over his lies and deceit.
- Athena Murphy, Hampstead, London UK
As a former member of British Special Forces I am toally ashamed by this whole episode. My colleagues and I were trained to give no information other than name, rank, and serial number. We were also trained never to look directly into a camera, not to smile and not to engage in conversation with our captors. If the fifteen captives had followed that simple set of rules they could have come out of this honour rather than the derision that is now reflected on our, once great, military. It's lamentable that under this awful and corrupt government we have become the laughing stock stock of the world.
- Martin, London
I think it's all be blown out of proportion. We should rejoice that they are back safe and sound. Stop picking on Faye. She and the other crew are totally unprepared for this media frenzy. Let the dust settle and leave them all alone.
The MOD had no choice but to allow the crew the freedom to talk to the press if they wished. Undoubtably for therapeutic reasons. None of us thankfully, will have to go through what our servicemen/women experience. So leave them alone. Good luck to them all. I have a soft spot for Faye, I think she's lovely.
- Paul Jardine, Bromley, Kent
Feed the propaganda to the masses, make a tidy profit, buy yourselves some body armour. The capitalist army on the rampage - opening makets that we could only once dream of.
- Simon S, Manchester, UK
Faye Turney has stated that she felt as though she was a traitor.
Congratulations - she still has a small vestige of a conscience!
- Davole, Hamilton, Canada
The Turney woman is a tough cookie soldier one minute, leaving her real job - looking after her child - behind, and a weak vulnerable little overweight girlie whimpering and stripped off to her knickers by the baddies the next. And finally she sells her story! First of all, what story? Who cares, apart from that third-rate has-been actor Blair? Secondly, she should be court-martialled, made to give the money to charity and dismissed from the Navy. What a disgrace! What a laughing stock it makes of the senior Service, what a slap in the face for all the true war heroes - yes, even in these warped times, there are still genuine decent servicemen around. She should hang her head in shame.
- Judith Chisholm, London
I think the whole episode shows that we have a different sort of Service Personnel today than those that have served our country in the past.
And where up to now, we have been able to take pride in our Armed Forces and what they have achieved with the bare minimum of resources, this self serving government with its seemingly endless supply of lickspittles have even taken that away from us. Thanks.
- Les, Harlow, Essex
This whole disreputable story-selling practice began with John Nichol. Yes, he was brutally treated in the first Gulf war, but he was given - and wasted no time grabbing - the opportunity of publishing his story. Since then he has made a lucrative career out of pontificating - oops 'opining' - on military matters, for rich rewards.
When is this country going to get the chiefs of staff that we pay for - and deserve?
- Sam Webster, London
Blair is in on this for sure. They call it spin these days but it is propaganda, and Goebbels would be proud. Is this the kind of government we expected to emerge when they took power in 1997?
- Martin, Dundee
I would not have thought that the Armed Forces would have allowed this in the first place?
- Vikki, Weston, Bristol
Mike Abbott is so out of it. What does he want - the armed services with no officers and NCOs. All those so called ´armchair´ warriors either came up through the ranks and/or went to officer training school. The did not get where they are being pussycats. The system is wrong, not the officers and men.
- Peter Glazier, Sao Paulo, Brazil
My Uncle Charlie was a P.O.W. from 1940 to 1945. No-one wanted to buy his story. His demob suit was bettor tailored that those Iranian things this crowd came home in. But, he never got a bag of goodies from his captor and the President didn't see him off!
- Roy G, Solihull, West Midlands.
I really admired the guts of the sailors and Marines and the way they carried themselves throughout their capture and release until I realised that some of their number had sold their stories - what a disgrace. This is not what joining the armed forces should EVER be about. The government in this case is at fault for sanctioning this, but so are the personnel involved for putting capital gain above dignity.
- Vera, London
In as much as I have sympaty for travails of the hostages, it smacks cheap publicity for leading seaman to say she was manhandled by Iranians and she felt like betraying her country, when the videos showed them grovelling before the the Iranians and seen playing games and smiling like they were enjoying the escape from the Iraqi frontline. Selling their story is disgusting and insult to our brave soldiers who died in this Blair/Bush stupid war in the Gulf.
- Jason Mathews, London
The only glimmer of light to emerge from this dank, dark, tawdry affair, is that the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, is not for the first time, proving to be a leader of the first order. Just about everyone else involved in this humiliating debacle should hang their heads in shame.
- Steve R, London, UK
We all know what will happen next - the Second Sea Lord, Adrian Johns, will be promoted to First Sea Lord for giving in to 10 Downing Street. It will be a similar situation to the promotion of John Scarlett to head MI6 after producing the Weapons of Mass Destruction Report, as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Commitee, that 4 Labour spin doctors designed to justify the war on Iraq. He of course well deserved his promotion for also behaving "so well and so professionally" at the Hutton enquiry.
- David, England
Can they really be so much out of touch with what the public thinks?
Yes they can and what's worse, they are.
- Paul Jones, London
What happened to 'Name, Rank and Number?' I admire any soldier to put themselves on the line for their country, but surely didn't they have faith in their goverment and country who will not stand for any soldier being imprisioned or wrongly accused of being a spy. Aren't they trained in Propaganda and interviewing techniques.
- Paul Mulvey, UK
I hope that she does sell her story. Maybe Europe (and America) will finally wake up and smell the coffee as to just what kind of people we are dealing with here. It doesn't matter how well (or poorly) we treat their people they will always manufacture an excuse to abuse innocent hostages. And I really don't care what she does with the money.
- Jeff, Syracuse, NY, USA
What is happening to our country, can somebody explain why our leaders keep getting decisions on policy wrong? Can they really be so much out of touch with what the public thinks? Why didn't they understand that this would do enormous damage to the reputation of the personnel involved and the forces in general? Maybe the navy took Camerons "hug a hoodie" to the extreme of "hug your Iranian captor".
- Tony, Dorset
Very satisfying to see such a blatant anti-Iranian propaganda plot backfire spectacularly. It is official: we are a nation of cynics. And with good reason too.
- Dylan Carr-Michael, Chelsea
My vote goes to the sailors, ordinary working class kids who live in the parallel universe of the military machine which is run by upper class establishment toadies, some of whom took no time in rubbishing the captives in their newspaper columns. These cowardly armchair warriors and played out craven poltical hacks aren't fit to clean the boots of our service personnel.
- Mike Abbott, London, UK
I would have thought that when someone was entering the Army/Navy they were aware of the risks that the job entailed. I have no sympathy and the fact that they are selling their stories disgusts me. Seems like another PR stunt by our Government. Which makes one think is it another 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' statement. Were our troops in an area that they shouldn't have been in. One thing is for sure we won't hear the truth from our Government.
I hope that Faye Turney does the decent thing and contribute the money that she has made to a worthwhile charity. She does not deserve to benefit financially. We have many of our troops in a foreign country who do not gain in performing their duties why should she be any different.
- J Kaur, London
