KILBURNFLYER
The handling of the Navy sailors return to the UK is the story that just won't die. A quiet news week has made getting some perspective on this issue a bit difficult for the MOD. The ill judged media handling is an embarrassing sideline to the story but that is all. Whilst accepting payment is not specifically prohibited by Queens Regulations why anybody thought it was anything other than a very bad idea is beyond me. Ministers could have stepped in and stopped this folly before it started had they been more confident in their own judgement or had had good advice from officials. It is perhaps regrettable that they did so only after the vociferous reaction became clear for all to see. There are of course much more important issues such as how did this happen in the first place - it is after all not the first time the Iranians have engaged in piracy and we have never got our boats back from the last time - but they will all come out in the inquiry. However, in all of this we should give thanks to the cool head of the officer in charge that nobody died. A diplomatic spat and a bit of egg on faces is far less painful to endure than the sight of 15 coffins arriving at Brize Norton.