John Blakeley,
The first person I had in mind was the originator of the entire thread who had left the RAF and was just starting his career in broadcasting - his first programme being one on the Chinook Crash. His final contribution was, if I remember correctly, to justify his actions immediately before his aircraft was shot down in GW1 (although his explanation seemed to me to be at variance with the explanation in the book he co-authored with his then pilot).
At the other end of the scale we had the HOL Committee who failed to obtain the services of anyone with Aviation or Military Experience to serve with them. Let us not forget that the Lord who spoke so forcefully against the amendment in the HOL was someone who had risen from being an Army and British Airways Helicopter Pilot to the most senior Executive in European Helicopter Operations; as well as having a World Wide role under UN auspices.
Prior to penning this I looked at the petition on the campaign website to see if the person mentioned in the first para had
penned his name - but I failed to spot it. What I did spot was that what appeared to be "Family Groups" had signed without any indication of the age of the children - moreover in the case of the family at No's 701 - 704 the Male at 702 appears to also have signed at 693.
I am afraid that I did not consider then, nor do I now, that the person mentioned in para 1 was acting in an entirely altruistic manner. With regard to the HOL Committee my own view is that Lord Chalfont, as a leading protagonist of the Campaign, should have stood aside from the Committee so that it could be perceived by all to be completely independant.