Commenting on the news that Iran will release the British naval personnel, Liberal Democrat Leader Menzies Campbell said:
“There will be many lessons to be learned from this episode. But for the moment we should welcome this announcement and look forward to the return of the naval personnel.
“Their seizure underlines the difficult and dangerous tasks we ask of our armed forces.â€
Could have done with a stronger condemnation, Heseltine style, of the cash for returning military hostages crisis. Watch out for Faye Turley turning up on Celebrity Big Brother later in the year. Maybe Ant and Dec could do a Summer Special of ‘I’m a Soldier in Afghanistan – Get Me Out of Here’. A hundred grand for the winner or a lifetime pass to Tessa Jowell’s Super Casino.
Yes – it’s ‘Carry On-Hello Sailor’:
Kenneth Williams is Tony Blair
Charles Hawtree is Des Browne
Sid James is Sir Ivor Smallcock, First Lord of the Admiralty.
How our enemies in the ‘Axis of Evil’ countries must be shaking in their sandals as the ‘War on Terror’ is conducted by our tough, kick-*** politicians backed up by the dedication of the brave sailors of Shatt al Arab. ‘They gave us blankets which were prickly’ said one of them. Sounds a bit like the fate of the inmates of Guantanamo Bay, where I am sure similar atrocities happen.
In order to try to salvage something positive from the fiasco, perhaps the money from the stories sold could be put towards better equipment for our armed forces. Some decent compasses or up to date charts of Iraqi/Iranian territorial waters would be a start.