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Browne under fire in sailors row Criticism over sailors' media row
(about 1 hour later)
Defence Secretary Des Browne has been accused by opposition MPs of acting too late after the MoD imposed a ban on personnel selling their stories. The government has been accused of harming the Navy's reputation by allowing sailors to sell stories of their 13-day ordeal in Iran.
Two of the Royal Navy crew members held in Iran have sold stories to the press, but further media deals have been stopped pending a government review. Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said the decision had done "a great deal of damage" and urged ministers to "come clean" over the decision.
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said the crew had been "put up for auction" by the events following their return. Downing St has refused to say when Tony Blair knew, but any further interviews have been banned pending a review.
The Lib Dems said events had been "mishandled" and the ban came too late.The Lib Dems said events had been "mishandled" and the ban came too late.
The government did a U-turn late on Monday, reversing an earlier decision to allow service personnel to sell their stories. The government made their U-turn late on Monday, reversing an earlier decision to allow service personnel to sell their stories.
Mr Browne said the sale of stories had been a "tough call" for the navy but those involved now accepted it had "not reached a satisfactory outcome" and lessons must be learned from the review. 'Tough call'
Dr Fox said the crew's return had been "handled appallingly" and that public sympathy for them had been lost. Defence Secretary Des Browne, who was made aware of the Navy's intention to allow the stories to be sold, said the decision had been a "tough call" for the Navy.
"Serving members of armed forces have, in effect, been put up for auction in the most horribly undignified fashion, something that has not gone unnoticed overseas," he said. He imposed the ban on more sales yesterday after admitting the outcome had not been "satisfactory" and lessons needed to be learned.
Liberal Democrat spokesman Nick Harvey said the ban came too late and was an admission that the MoD had "completely mishandled the situation". An MoD review of the rules governing the issue is under way aimed at making the regulations consistent across the armed forces, he added.
He also warned the government against using the ban as an excuse to gag personnel from helpful discourse with the media in the future. Des Browne needs to come clean with the details of who was involved in the decision, at what stage and why it was taken Liam Fox
Dr Fox, who has said the crew were effectively "put up for auction" after their return last week, described the original decision as "complete ministerial incompetence".
"The MoD's actions were completely at odds with normal procedure and totally out of character with the ethos of our armed forces," he said.
"Des Browne needs to come clean with the details of who was involved in the decision, at what stage and why it was taken."
He later told the BBC that the whole episode had done "a great deal of damage" to the dignity of the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence was guilty of "a failure of leadership".
'Laughing stock'
On Tuesday, a Downing Street spokeswoman refused to be drawn on when the prime minister became aware of the decision.
She said: "This was a decision taken by the Navy... I don't think it's helpful to get into who informed who when. The prime minister supports the defence secretary in the decision taken to look at this."
I want everyone out there to know my story from my side, see what I went through Leading Seaman Faye Turney Captive 'felt like a traitor' Stories sale criticism grows I want everyone out there to know my story from my side, see what I went through Leading Seaman Faye Turney Captive 'felt like a traitor' Stories sale criticism grows
Mr Browne said the MoD's review of the rules governing the issue was aimed at making the regulations consistent across the armed forces. But Labour former defence minister Peter Kilfoyle said the armed forces had been left a "laughing stock" because of the way it had been handled.
On Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesman refused to be drawn on when the prime minister became aware of the decision. And Liberal Democrat spokesman Nick Harvey said the ban came too late and was an admission that the MoD had "completely mishandled the situation".
Politicians, former soldiers and some relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq last week have questioned the decision by the Royal Navy to allow the crew to sell their stories. He also warned the government against using the ban as an excuse to gag personnel from helpful discourse with the media in the future.
Leading Seaman Faye Turney sold her story to ITV1's Tonight with Trevor Macdonald and the Sun newspaper - reportedly for a six-figure sum, some of which will go to navy families. Arthur Batchelor, 20, the youngest of the British sailors to be held captive, told the Daily Mirror about his "nightmare" at the hands of his captors.
Meanwhile Arthur Batchelor, 20, the youngest of the British sailors to be held captive, told the Daily Mirror about his "nightmare" at the hands of his captors and how he "cried like a baby" in his cell. And Leading Seaman Faye Turney sold her story to ITV1's Tonight with Trevor Macdonald and the Sun newspaper - reportedly for a six-figure sum, some of which will go to navy families.
'Unsavoury' sale
The crew returned to the UK on Thursday after 13 days in captivity
Both of the officers among the captives have said they do not plan to profit from the story.
Lieutenant Felix Carman, who was among those held, defended Leading Seaman Turney's decision to sell her story.
But he added that he found it "slightly unsavoury" that his fellow captives were being paid to tell their story.
HAVE YOUR SAY The tragedy is that the relatives of those servicemen/women who have died seem to generate much less interest from the media Fred, Macclesfield Send us your commentsHAVE YOUR SAY The tragedy is that the relatives of those servicemen/women who have died seem to generate much less interest from the media Fred, Macclesfield Send us your comments
But, of Leading Seaman Turney, he said: "She has taken the money, she is safeguarding her daughter's future. I would like to see what the critics would do in a similar position."
The Sun newspaper has defended its decision to pay for her story.
In the Trevor Macdonald programme, she defended her decision to sell her story and said a percentage of the money would help the crew and families of HMS Cornwall.In the Trevor Macdonald programme, she defended her decision to sell her story and said a percentage of the money would help the crew and families of HMS Cornwall.
"I want everyone out there to know my story from my side, see what I went through," she told the programme."I want everyone out there to know my story from my side, see what I went through," she told the programme.
She also said that there were times during her two-week ordeal when she cried herself to sleep. The Royal Navy crew were on patrol boats in the Gulf on 23 March when they were detained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
The Iranians accused the crew of straying into its waters - the British say they were in Iraqi territory.