The problem is NOT the Mirror, in my view. They certainly caused it, but the problem is now that some politicians have or may see some mileage in running with it. I would suggest that having seen how BHH's response was ignored by the Mirror, that there is no useful purpose in saying anything to them at all. They will probably ignore it or ridicule it or twist it completely out of context - that's what tabloid journalists do!
I haven't tracked the saga in the Mirror beyond the first day - I am certainly got going to buy one of their papers now! But from what others are saying we seem to have two of the UK's "finest" have taken the bait.
The Lib-Dem man would probably benefit from a carefully put together rational argument along the lines of some of the more sensible comments in this thread. He is probably clueless about helicopters, aviation and how bombs explosives and ordinance work.
If Alistair Darling does set some sort of Inquiry in motion, then we need to look to our representative bodies to prepare in advance a broader based submission for such an Inquiry. The obvious candidate is the BHAB - not a large organisation, but a suitable focal point. I suspect that the inquiry would not be formal and/or public, so they may need to push a bit to ensure that their comments are taken into account.
Don't be afraid to offer any assistance to the BHAB if you have any useful capabilities that may help them..
Others have also raised that we need to be not too dogmatic ourselves.
As very much a secondary level of importance and given the current and soon to get worse security situation, some small enhancement to our security arrangements might decrease the risk from terrrorism associated with our activities. We should at least be prepared to consider the possibility - I don't mean exclusion zones but baggage checking and some attempt at establishing an identity would not cost too much. Indeed, we already cooperate in similar levels of security at the heliports associated with special events. If it can be shown that such measures could help, then we should consider them.
Last edited by Helinut; 2nd March 2003 at 22:19.