mileandahalf
I’m sure Mick Smith is big enough to look after himself, but I can’t let your totally ill-founded and ill-tempered attack on him pass without comment.
You say
I reckon you should stick to journalism
I suggest that that is exactly what he is doing, with highly commendable results. Amongst the general dumbing down of the media, investigative journalists like Mick Smith are increasingly rare - and yet a free democracy like ours depends on people like Mick to keep the executive in check. He has consistently used his valuable platform at The Times to publicise and consider the often questionable behaviour of some of the senior people in the chain of command. Without his insights and revelations, I believe the Board might not have come to some of its conclusions, and it is arguable that we would not have had apologies from the Secretary of State and the Chief of the Air Staff, nor the unprecedented launching of a much broader inquiry, to say nothing of the mention of new consideration of compensation for the relatives.
You also say
You need to accept some of the responsibility for the way that the whole issue has been portrayed throughout the media
I have not spoken to Mick Smith about this - but I would be very surprised if he does not proudly accept exactly that responsibility. What other, less reputable, parts of the media do with the fruits of Mick’s valuable research is obviously not his responsibility, however.
I really don’t think, either, that slagging off Mick Smith is going to help
put something positive back into the lives of those at Kinloss
.
I believe that work such as his is part of a big effort that might just help to save some of those lives in future.
airsound