Intelligence

SAS opens up to media

This is a HUGE mistake by the British Government, and really should be re-thought. The SAS are the pride and joy of British people, and the way they can take care of a situation, and melt away into the darkness afterwards is done with such class and it generates the right amount of fear and respect with the bad guys.

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | SAS opens up to media

Claire Cozens, press and publishing correspondent
Friday May 28, 2004

The Ministry of Defence has agreed to lift the cloak of secrecy surrounding the activities of Britain's special forces following pressure from media organisations to be more open.The Ministry of Defence has agreed to lift the cloak of secrecy surrounding the activities of Britain's special forces following pressure from media organisations to be more open.

SAS: notoriously secretive over military details

Until now, the government has operated a blanket policy of refusing to comment on any issue involving the SAS - making it extremely difficult for the media to report accurately on their activities.

But this week the MoD finally relented to media pressure, and from today the department's two most senior press officers will be allowed to provide comment and guidance - although this will be entirely at their discretion.

The government's decision to relax the rules on talking to the media follows pressure from the defence advisory notice committee, a panel of defence grandees and senior media figures set up to advise on information which, if published, might damage national security.

"The MoD has decided to change the way they operate to allow one or two press officers to talk about special forces matters. The director of news and the chief press officer will be able to comment - although this will be left to their discretion," said Rear Admiral Nick Wilkinson, the secretary of the committee.

"If they cannot say anything they will explain why," said Admiral Wilkinson, adding that it was "extremely unlikely" the press office would ever volunteer information to journalists.

The media has been pressing for a change in the MoD's "no comment" policy for years. It is one of the strictest in the western world - so stringent that when the SAS was deployed in Sierra Leone in 2000, the government refused even to acknowledge its presence in the country.

Today Admiral Wilkinson said it had become impossible for Britain to continue to say nothing to the media when their US and Australian allies were providing much more information.

"It was rather strange in Afghanistan and Iraq for British forces not to comment when their allies were," he added. "The media view was that in the modern world the 'never comment' policy was not doing the MoD any good."

The decision represents a softening in the relationship between the defence minister Geoff Hoon, who initially opposed the relaxation of the rules, and the media.

At a recent lunch with defence correspondents, Mr Hoon replied to a request for a relaxation of the rules with the words "you write guff anyway. It [more openness] will not stop you writing guff".

The Telegraph's defence correspondent Michael Smith, who attended the lunch, today described Mr Hoon's attitude as "paranoid" and said the changes were more likely to lead to the MoD press office denying negative stories than to increased clarity about the activities of the special forces.

But Smith expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of the changes.

"This is a more sensible approach than 'we never comment' which was a green light for people to write any old rubbish because no one would deny it.

"But I'd be surprised if they [the MoD] just said 'oh yes, that's true'. I think they will just rubbish occasional stories that are incorrect," he said.

"I cannot remember ever getting a major story that was damaging to the military out of the MoD press office."

May 28, 2004 at 10:09 PM in SAS | Permalink | TrackBack (53) | Top of page | Blog Home