Browne slammed over story ban

Updated 14.09 Tue Apr 10 2007

Keywords: MoD, Iran, Faye Turney, Des Browne

Defence Secretary Des Browne has been accused of acting too late amid a row about allowing military personnel to sell their stories.

It follows the release of the 15 UK service personnel from Iran, some of whom have sold their stories to the British press.

"The Government is using them for spin because it suits their requirements... I find that offensive" - Reg Keys

The Ministry of Defence has now banned the practice but Mr Browne is facing continuing criticism having conceded the original decision to let them speak out was not a success.

Major General Patrick Cordingly, who commanded the Desert Rats during the 1991 Gulf War, accused the MoD of using the sailors and Marines as a propaganda tool.

Former Labour defence minister Peter Kilfoyle said the UK's Armed Forces had been left a "laughing stock" because of the way the issue has been handled.

Meanwhile, Reg Keys, whose son Thomas was one of six members of the Royal Military Police killed by an Iraqi mob in June 2003, criticised the MoD for double standards.

He said: "The Government is using them for spin because it suits their requirements... I find that offensive."

And Opposition politicians accused Mr Browne of acting too late, saying the MoD acted "appallingly" in putting its sailors "up for auction".

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: "The whole situation relating to the captive servicemen coming home has been handled appallingly.

"The Ministry of Defence have managed to lose public sympathy for our sailors and Marines, cause division within the ranks of the armed forces and serving members of the armed forces have, in effect, been put up for auction in the most horribly undignified fashion, something that has not gone unnoticed overseas.

"We will want to know who made these decisions, at what stage and why."

Leading Seaman Faye Turney, 25, the only woman among the group, has given an interview to a tabloid newspaper and to a television programme in which she said she believed her captors had measured her for a coffin and planned to kill her.

Responding to criticism, Leading Seaman Turney said a percentage of her fee for the interviews is going to help personnel on her ship HMS Cornwall and their families.

The youngest captive, Arthur Batchelor, sold his account to a tabloid and described how he feared being sexually abused and even executed.