The Royal Navy s out of control.

It is making up and implementing foreign policy.

And all this without any reference to or input from the Prime Minister Tony Blair or the Defence Secretary Des Browne.

With the ‘cash for captives’ saga the navy showed that the Royal navy could make up and implement a foreign policy towards a major Middle Eastern power, on the hoof, without bothering to inform the prime Minister.

The Navy is taking advantage of our Prime Minister’s easygoing ways and his total lack of control freakery.

The Prime Minister only knew that the Royal Navy had launched a major international propaganda war against Iran when he read it in the Sunday papers.

The poor Defence Secretary was only told ‘to note’ the information on the preceding Friday but ordered by the Navy not to let the Prime Minister know as Tony Blair likes to get his really important information about the Government’s foreign policy from the newspapers.