Is Des Down?
Ever since that bizarre interview on the Today show last week people have been speculating about Des Browne’s state-of-mind. John Humphrys tore him to pieces following a High Court ruling that families of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan could sue the Government under human rights laws. Des was all over the place.
Then MoD documents released under an FoI request showed he had misled the Commons over the 15 weeping Royal Navy sailors taken prisoner by Iran last year. Contrary to his claims they had been in Iraqi rather than international waters. He will have to apologise to the House for his lies.
Whitehall reckons Browne is down and possibly suffering from mental exhaustion because he is both a part-time Defence Secretary and a part-time Scottish Secretary. His SpAds spin that he has a chest infection. Guido prefers to believe that in the dark hours of the night his soul is tortured by the ghosts of the soldiers he sent to their death under-equipped.
Or perhaps he is ashamed of himself over the failed court action (in his name) to gag a coroner’s ruling from becoming public which criticised the MoD over troops deaths?
