Lord Drayton, who has actually been overseeing procurement within the Ministry of Defence, is taking a sabbatical to race in the famous 24 hours Le Mans race. Curiously he has come under fire from the BBC based on a quote from the mother of 19yr old Fusilier Gentle, killed in 2004. It seems that in the course of reporting on his inquest some enterprising journalist asked Mrs Gentle what she thought of his 'leave of absence' and she commented it was insensitive, untimely and, in basic terms, unprofessional. Drayton would have no role in the Gentle case, and it does feel as if conflating the issues is intruding on grief to make a story. It also misses the point that Drayton probably got the job because he donated the most to Labour, that he has not excelled in his job and probably wanted a title rather than responsibility, and that this is a neat way of exiting with a clean record. These points are under-explored and come much later in the piece; what does this tell us about the quality of BBC journalism comes to my mind. Any thoughts why this is the big story and not possible errors in appointment (amid Cash for Honours)?
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