The sale of the hostages' stories to The Sun and the Daily Mirror receives close attention. Peter Wilby in The Guardian argues that the military has now joined the media age. He writes: "When Lord Palmerston wished to show foreigners they could not deal lightly with British citizens, he sent a gunboat. His successors send Sir Trevor McDonald into action."
Stephen Glover in The Independent, more conventionally, says we can laugh at the pair who sold their stories and at the newspapers for paying them, "but it is the navy chiefs and their political masters who have let their country down." And Peter Preston in The Observer casts a jaundiced eye on the whole episode.
Preston also deals with the latest ABC figures, describing them as miserable. But Peter Cole in the Independent on Sunday sees them very differently, suggesting that they are far better than most commentators would have us believe. However, his argument is dismantled by Andrew Grant-Adamson in an excellent posting. Read both to make up your mind.
