Browne: ‘I’m responsible’ for navy media row
The defence secretary Des Browne has accepted the blame for the navy media ‘fiasco’.
Although maintaining that the navy approved plans for two of the 15 personnel detained in Iran to sell their stories to the media, Mr Browne said that, as minister, “the responsibility rests with me”.
Speaking to reporters today, Mr Browne said that “with hindsight”, it had been the wrong decision to allow the sale. The defence minister initially appeared to support the move, but following criticism he announced a review of future payments, before banning all further sales.
Mr Browne said he was “taken through” a note from the navy setting out its intention to allow the sale on Good Friday. He explained that the navy felt the deal was necessary to counteract the “propaganda” from the Iranian government.
“I first spoke to the prime minister on Monday when I was in the process of making the decision [to ban payment for interviews] which was announced in the statement I made on Monday,” he said.
“I then made the announcement I made on Monday, so clearly, with hindsight, I could have made a different decision.”
Mr Browne added: “I am secretary of state for defence and, ultimately, the responsibility rests with me”.
The Liberal Democrats maintained that Mr Browne has still failed to fully explain the situation.
“It is part of a minister’s job to anticipate the reaction of the public and the media. To simply say that he ‘noted’ the original judgment is simply not good enough,” said defence spokesman Nick Harvey.
Mr Harvey continued: “This should not have been a rushed decision. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) had plenty of time to work out how to handle this but somehow still found itself making a hasty decision and an even hastier U-turn.”
The Liberal Democrats also cautioned against allowing the current furore to detract from the original incident. “There are serious concerns about how these personnel ended up being held by Iran in the first,” said Mr Harvey.
Conservative leader David Cameron said the entire episode had been handled “shambolically” and called for a full inquiry, both from the MoD into the detention and of ministers’ handling of the crisis.
Mr Cameron argued: “Our armed forces need a government that understands the military and understands the importance of maintaining respect and dignity and I don’t think we have got that in the government today.
“The government has put headlines and good PR ahead of the long term good of the armed forces and the nation.”
Speaking today outside RAF Leuchars in Scotland, Mr Cameron was keen not to seem critical of the armed forces, announcing the appointment of a dedicated shadow armed forces minister to monitor living standards.
