Considering his position
After all that, sorry seems NOT to be the hardest word. The defence secretary's to the House of Commons did not contain the "s" word. Des Browne said instead that "I made a mistake". Under pressure from the Tories, however, he did finally if somewhat testily say, "if he wants me to say sorry I'm happy to say that".
The silence in which his statement was heard was only interrupted by cheers from the Labour benches. Liam Fox - for the Tories - called for him "to consider his position" - code for resign. There is now no chance of that.
Des Browne came to the Commons aware that he had the support of the chief of the defence staff and heads of the armed forces, the backing of the prime minister, healthy opinion poll ratings (which show only around a third of the public want him to go) and a great deal of solidarity from the Labour backbenches. Des Browne has proved that politicians can make mistakes and say sorry and still survive if they have few enemies waiting for them to fail. All he needs to worry about now is whether he still has the support of his friend, Gordon Brown.
I'm 
Comments
This man never saId 'sorry' until he was forced to do so in Parliament.
As usual Gordon brown was nowhere to be seen.
Nick, you seem to be saying that as long as a Cabinet Minister has the backing of the polls he/she is free to continue making a mess of everything he/she touches.
What happened to responsibility for one's own actions?
People are fed up with the way things are being run. The main problem is that New Labour are full of vision and policy but can't nail down the boring day-to-day work of actually running things competantly.
He said what no politician says - sorry. Well done!
But I'm just wondering how much the politicians leaned on the heads of the armed forces to get them to 'support' Mr Browne.
Des Browne made a silly error of judgement, but to want him to lose his job for it is ridiculous. There are many politicians who have made much greater mistakes and got away with them, so why sack him for this?
And, by the way, I am not a Labour supporter.
This is the sort of boring non-issue that makes one despair of politics.
Two sailors are made to look foolish, big deal, and the Tories bay for a resignation to shame the Government.
Untold numbers of Iraqis die following an illegal invasion of their country, and the Tories call for an inquiry. Nice priorities chaps. Grow up.
Help me here, Nick. When was the last time ANY Labour Minister since 1997 has resigned FOR ANYTHING ?
Blair says he's confidant his legacy will be secure. If it means he will be remembered for presiding over a government that has the word INCOMPETANT matched to everything they've been involved in...Dome; Defra; Foot'n'Mouth; Pensions; Iraq; Postal voting; Euro; House of Lords reform, etc etc etc then I think he's correct.
Des Browne is just following the New Labour pattern. Never apologise...Never explain...Never learn.
Now politicians can sit and review facts take days to form a reply,with expert help. a soldier gets 1 second to make a decision if he gets it wrong it's a court martial shame on the forces bad egg etc... jail.
mr Blair either support our forces or get us out.
George Bremer ex Royal Artillery
Erm, He didn't actually say sorry though did he ? He said, ' if he wants me to say sorry I will say that.' It's a subtle difference which betrays the media training that new labour undertake. It also shows that Nick is yet again toadying in his 'impartial' role.
How much is his position made safe by the general expectation that Gordon or whoever is about to take over and put another team in place anyway- this team is irrelavent?
There is no point Mr Browne or any other Labour minister saying "sorry" to the nation.
It should be the voters saying "sorry" to the nation for voting labour & electing these bunch of incompetent & shameless morons.
If the Leaders of Britains armed forces truely support Des Browne, I would suggest to them to look at some of the services unofficial web sites (i.e those of the ordinary men oand women) beccause it clearly shows
how out of touch they are with the people on the front line. Ad for Mr Browne, a reluctant sorry after Liam Fox's contribution, but no resignation. I recall when elected Tony Blairs Whiter than white statement and that Ministers would be
held to account. As this Prime Minister finally prepares to leave, it sums up his leadership of Britain, that of 10 years of empty rhetoric and failiure. Des Browne Should do the honourable thing and resign.
I don't know why anyone expected Des Browne to resign - how many New Labour ministers have resigned when they have been found out? Whilst I personally would have liked him to resign, I despair over who would be chosen to take his place.
I do wonder, however, how much the armed forces were leaned on to offer "support" to Browne?
Richard Cox asks: "When was the last time ANY Labour Minister since 1997 has resigned FOR ANYTHING ?"
Blunkett (twice). Mandelson (twice). Ron Brown. Clare Short. Robin Cook. Estelle Morris...
Politicians are so afraid of the fallout from failure that the atmosphere required for positive, innovative change is stifled. As a result, change rarely happens.
OK, Browne made a stupid and avoidable mistake, but who hasn't? What is necessary is that a mistake is properly rectified, that the individual concerned makes a speedy and frank declaration of the facts and that the correct lessons are learned.
It is an unfortunate consequence of the combination of sensationalist media and the Labour control machine that a "confession" can only happen after several days of spin and manoeuvring.
David Cameron seems to be trying to show us a simpler, more honest form of politics, but I fear a Tory government will fall into the same trap in time.
God help us when Gordo gets in!
We all make mistakes but those in high places are surely there to minimise the damage that can be done by bad judgement. Des Browne in one breath pays tribute to our armed forces who have given their lives to fight the causes in which this country believes, many leaving partners and young children, yet in the other, sanctions the media payout for those set free by Iran. It would have been better if he had been there to welcome them home and done so in tribute to those less fortunate.
I don't understand why the ban was re-imposed by Des Browne in the first place. Freedom of speech is something lacking in Iran and would have been a stark contrast with the way Iran handled the captives. Banning the stories from being told will not bring back the 142 service men and women who have lost their lives since 2003 in Iraq. If anything, it highlights those freedoms which they died protecting.
I agree Joe, its things like this that makes me despair politics.
In other careers people are supported when they make mistakes. People complain that politicians always avoid answering a question directly but why is anyone surprised when there are so many people waiting for the politicians to slip up.
I think the current merry go round in the cabinet is ridiculous anyone knows it takes time to change things. People should be given the job for a a full parlimentary term rather than switching every year or two.
I think this is just pathetic. Yes, he made an error of judgment perhaps in letting the sailors sell their stories. But to expect him to resign over the matter is madness, you didn't see Mr Brown resign over the his balls up in the pensions issue. Personally, I can't see what the great big fuss is all about. Who cares if the sailors sold their stories to the papers, I would rather read about their ordeal than what some "celebrity" is doing with their ridiculous amounts of cash. Whatever happened to freedom of the press eh? I also fail to see how this has "embarrassed" the British Armed Forces. If you had the opportunity to make some cash, you should take it (within reason!). The female sailor (I've forgotten her name..oops!) who sold her story said that a majority of the funds was going to the charity fund named after her ship anyway, so whats the problem. The money is after all going towards an honorable cause!
As much as I support the Tories after Labours continuous ability to fail at everything the do, or should I say talk about; this issue has just been turned into an excuse to start flaming Labour again. Its just stupid, if the people who are supposed to manage this country can't talk about such a minor issue without it turning into a bitching contest what hope do we have for the future!
Sorry? Too little, too late. This entire debacle is the direct result of 10 years of politically correct pandering to the weak minded and idealistically foolish. the recruits showed themselves to be utterly unfit for military service and the release of their stories showed our military, once respected and feared world-wide, to be utterly caven and will-less, supine cowards. Our nation is in grave peril due to this and the Labour Government is to blame. For turning our fighting forces into a bunch of craven social workers, the entire front bench should resign and Blair should be charged with treason.
Des Browne looks like a man hopelessly out of his depth. Not dishonest or sleazy like many of the other New Labour crowd, just promoted way beyond his ability. He didn’t set out make the Royal Navy the laughing stock of the world (they seem quite capable of achieving that themselves) he merely failed to appreciate the full implications of what he was signing off on. He had bunked off home early for the bank holiday weekend, failed to read the small print correctly and lacked the political antenna warning of danger for the disaster that was being set in motion. I’m sure Downing Street appreciated what was happening but where happy to occupy the media with the sailors stories rather then have them digging about into the cause of this humiliating fiasco. Nope better let the hapless Mr Des Browne sign off on that one and take the flak when the whole thing ignited.
As voters, we mustn't be told what to think by either our governments or the opposition.
Something went wrong, somewhere between the military and the government. The MOD has the responsibility for properly informing the public and journalism has the right to question them, on our behalf. Serving individuals must be protected in that way; they are not pawns. There lies the error. Tony, step up to the mark - you're the leader of this government and it should be you apologising on behalf of us all. Don't shoot the messenger!
Nick, it seems that if you make a mistake all you need to do is say sorry and all is forgiven. Well sometimes sorry is not enough. In most jobs if you make a serious mistake sorry will still cost you your job.
If it is so easy to say sorry then perhaps our '' Leader '' Tony will
say sorry for spinning us into the war in Iraq and for all the British
Forces lives that have been lost
(not counting the thousands of Iraqies)
Say sorry Tony, leave office,tell the truth and we can all sleep happier in our beds tonight knowing you have a conscience. No that dosen't fit your legacy does it!!
Nick,
Why are you so credulous with Government spin? Is it that you're worried about upsetting your sources?
Are you sure that "the chief of the defence staff and heads of the armed forces" support him. Aren't they under orders by New Labour to say to the press what they're told?
A more accurate statement might have been to say that they have publicly supported him. For the sake of balance, you might have added that they could have been fired for saying otherwise.
I watched the statement with growing disbelief. If you accept responsibility for a mistake, you have to accept the consequences.
Someone in the private sector who made such a fundamental mistake (in the face of plenty of voices urging an alternate course) would be dismissed without question.
We are at the end of the Blair era - no-one is going to be sacked or resign until this waiting period is over - which is a foolish way to maintain discipline within government.
Liam Fox's comparison between Lord Carrington's reaction to the invasion of The Falkland Islands and Mr Browne allowing service personnel to be paid for their story by Fleet Street is risable!
I have little time for this government but Dr Fox needs to up his game if he expects to score serious points against them!
Des Brown deserves credit for saying sorry, he is one of the few politicians who I have heard to do this, we should encourage his example and it might encourage other politicians to do the same.
It would be ludicrous for Des Brown to resign. Regardless of position, if everyone had to resign over every mistake made public there would be continual turmoil within government. Instead lets look at the gravity of his mistake - a momentary judgement of error. If we thinks of Blair, Prescott, Madelson..I think we can get this mistake into perspective. I don't recall Blair, Prescott or Madelson apologising, even under pressure.
I'm sorry, but I'm still unclear exactly what 'mistake' Des Browne is supposed to have made on this issue. So what if service personnel sell their stories to the tabloids? Why should we care? And how is this more important a story than, say, the government's bigger failures in the Middle East?
And isn't it somewhat hypocritical for the very same newspapers who waved their cheque books in the first place to be baying for Browne's resignation, as though they weren't involved?
Personally, I think Browne shouldn't be minister for the continuing disasters of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But perhaps Blair and Brown, the architects of Britain's appalling involvement in both misadventures, should go first.
Correct me if I am wrong but what has Browne actually done wrong,and is this actually a big issue.It has been blown out of all proportin on the ground of Opposition political opportunism.Browne is well liked and well respected inside and outside of parliament and does not deserve to go,for one minor error of judgement.After all the likes of Simon Weston,Andt McNab et al have made fortunes out of what Browne is accused of allowing the hostages to do i.e tell their story!.Liam Fox was incapable of landing any kind of blow on Browne so he should now gracefullt shut up,or maybe he should consider his position as an ineffective shadow minister.
What annoys me about this is Blairs talk of a 'Witch Hunt'. It is simply holding someone in high authority accountable for a massive error of judgement which has huge ramifications. If this happened in business the person concerned would have to fall on their sword pretty quick.
To Richard Cox who said: "Help me here, Nick. When was the last time ANY Labour Minister since 1997 has resigned FOR ANYTHING ?"
Mandelson (twice)
Blunkett (twice)
Cook (on a matter of principle)
Short (on a matter of principle, just a bit late)
Clarke
+ several more
If the man had any honour, he would have resigned immediately. That would have been widely accepted as the right thing to do, but most importantly might have salvaged some credibility for the Government.
The last resignation I can recall was Michael Heseltine over the Westland affair.
It seems that nowadays ministers cling on to whatever power they can get. An MP is supposed to serve his country, not him or herself.
The background picture leading up to the publishing issue is similar to the Big Brother scandal. Public, authorities, and personalities were caught in pattern of favouring passions to the detriment of critical thinking. People got what they wanted and didn’t like it. In every disaster is an opportunity and, here, I suspect the calmer and wiser heads will absorb this mistake, correct their course, and deliver more credibly in the future.
People can and do make mistakes, just as people can and do feel aggrieved, but some measure of proportion must be kept if things are to progress in a better direction. Des Browne’s admission of a mistake is an acknowledgement of reality, and his calm and measured acceptance of that is humble and confidence inspiring, and is a welcome change from the rigid and reactive approach a less mature man may have taken.
I have sincerely hoped for a more mature attitude to develop in British politics, and Des Browne’s example is something I hope will equally catch the attention of loser communities and individuals throughout the country. It helps provide a role model for the criminal and economically marginalised. Des Browne’s delivery under pressure demonstrate that a better quality success is possible through better quality ways.
All hail Des Browne!
I cannot believe that once again another labour politician is getting away with gross negligence.
So "Swiss Des" has the backing of the defence staff, shocking, seeing as it was them that allowed this disgrace in the first place, well he may have the support of the Generals but he most certainly does not have the support of the troops. We in the forces are sick and tired of this government who seem all too willing to send us to war but seem not so willing to provide us with the correct equipment or support, a quick scan of forces websites such as www.arrse.co.uk would be enough for anyone to see how disgruntled todays military is, we are rapidly losing faith in this government and morale is stretched to the limit, I don't pretend to know what the future holds but I can say that if the current trend continues we may not have an armed forces able to meet the country's future defence needs.
The line being drawn under this story so quickly is a disgrace but then I suppose I should not be surprised that the 91Èȱ¬ has sought an easy exit from it seeing as we're talking about a member of the cabinet, well just remember that you may be able to bury your heads in the sand in order to protect your future plans but we in the armed forces do not have that luxury. We rely on the media to fight our corner and yet are constantly let down by them, the lack of pressure on this government from the media has, in all probability, contributed to the deaths of British service personel, If we in the forces fought our battles in such a way, we would certainly not have the proud and honoured history we have earnt.
Remember, Courage is not the absence of fear, more the judgement that something is more important than fear. Perhaps you will keep this in mind when the next labour inspired disaster takes another chunk of self-respect from the forces and maybe, just maybe, you will find the courage to fight the battles for those who cannot fight them.
Fact is that if Des Browne had resigned over this fiasco half of Tony Blair's cabinet would also have to resign for the various scandals and incompetence they have been involved in over the years,not least of all Blair himself of course.,so why should Des Browne be held to a higher standard than the rest of them..Hopefully the new PM will be getting rid of most of them when he takes over in 10 weeks time anyway.
As is becoming commonplace, Nick - the story is not so much about Des Browne and his (rather reluctant) apology - and of course Tony Blair's 'full support' - but WHERE is Gordon Brown..?
Surely the Treasury's constant hacking away at the defence budget has some bearing on this matter?