Counting Them All Out – Des Browne And Tony Blair Take On Iran
LOOKING at Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, the Times’ People’s column sees disproof of the cliché that all publicity is good publicity.
Counting up column inches, it notes how of Wednesday last week the “international press” mentioned Des Brown 21 times; on Wednesday this week, that figure had risen to 160.
Sadly, what constitutes the international press is not defined. And we imagine Iran’s Tehran Times, Kayhan and Entekhab organs have mentioned Mr Browne many more times than that. We may be wrong. Iran’s print media might have called it a day at 160 mentions of the defeated, quashed etc. Browne. If true, we stand corrected and, indeed, admire their uncharacteristic restraint.
The Times makes mention of Browne today. In “Safe pair of hands admits he lost his grip in allowing sale of stories”, Browne gets nine names checks. Add in the references to “he” (9), “him” (1), his (1) and the “Defence Secretary” (1) and the score keeps rising.
An I For An I
Brown is famous, although, intriguingly, only once in the entire piece is the word “I” mentioned in connection with Browne.
The only other time we read an “I” is when Tony Blair is questioned on his part in the decision to allow the sailors to sell their stories.
Says Tony: “I didn’t actually know about the decision until after it was taken. But really that is not the point.”
Indeed not, but good that Tony has made it and his innocence is now a matter of recorded fact. Tony moves on. Says he: “The Navy was trying to deal with a wholly exceptional situation in which the families were being pursued by the media to tell their stories.”
Is Tony saying that upon discovering the media was interested in the stories of the sailors’ loved ones (such as mentioned in Faye Turney’s letters home) the Navy and Government were caught off guard?
Is this Government so ignorant of the ways of the media? And note that Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth has appeared on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, Tony has sat on Richard & Judy’s sofa and the Sun is often infiltrated by the shadowy outline of SAS hero–turned hack Andy McNab
And then there is the added puzzler that we have not heard from Faye Turney’s husband Adam, daughter Molly nor any of the sailors’ families.
Says Tony: “The Navy took the view that it was better to manage the situation. With hindsight was that a good idea? No.” As ever Blair’s personal style is to suck up popular opinion and regurgitate it as his own.
Navy Browne
But enough of Tony. Browne is beneath the spotlight. He tells the world: “I said at the outset, although this was a Navy decision, I have to take responsibility for it, and I don’t seek to hide behind the fact that the Navy made the decision.”
Got that. The Navy made the decision. Blair says it. Browne says it – twice in one sentence. But Browne is not in the business of blame.
He seeks to come clean and confront all. And – who knows? – he might just choose to tell his story on Tonight With Trevor McDonald or in the tabloids…
Picture: Beau Bo D’Or
Posted: 12th, April 2007 | In: Uncategorized Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
