Shambles at sea
Sir: On 19 July Iranian Republican Guard forces captured the UK flagged tanker Stena Impero, as described by former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt in her Spectator Diary (3 August). It was a national humiliation and it needn’t have happened. As was made clear at the House of Commons Defence Committee hearing on 9 September, warnings were being given about possible Iranian actions as early as mid-June. The UK naval presence in the area comprised only one frigate, HMS Montrose, and more ships were needed to protect UK shipping. The HCDC was surprised to discover from Mordaunt that she had been trying to stimulate a response, but had her requests for a Cobra meeting refused on at least five occasions.
On 4 July, the UK impounded the tanker Grace 1 full of Iranian crude oil headed for Syria in Gibraltarian waters. After this, the Iranians stated quite clearly they would act against a UK ship. Still the government delayed sending extra forces. Finally, on 12 July, HMS Duncan was told to head for the Gulf. Too late.
Lessons must be learnt from this shambolic response. We ignored a real threat to UK ships and crews. The desperate shortage of frigates in the Navy is part of the problem. For a great maritime nation such as ours to have only 13 frigates is a national disgrace.
Admiral Lord West of Spithead
House of Lords, SW1
Ipso must think again
Sir: The article on the leaked Ipso guidelines on the reporting of Muslim issues (‘In the balance’, 7 September) raises important concerns for supporters of press freedom.
I speak as a long-time opponent of anti-Muslim prejudice, as a fierce critic of Ipso’s repeated failures to ensure a fair and balanced press and as a defender of the right of the public to protest against what they perceive to be media bias.
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