Today's Outrage from the Daily M**l

[Darren Wheeler]

There was one DM reader comment that actually showed what could be an insight into the reasoning, if not the execution.

It went something like...

"This was an international flight carrying passengers from all over the world. In some countries the military is used by the government as a tool of oppression and terror on the population. "

Seeing someone board the plane in combats may have caused distress to someone on-board coming from one of those question. No idea if that was the case though.

It may help if we were able to keep our own preujudices out of the argument and comment on what we 'know' or don't know.

1) No one knows why they were travelling in uniform. Unusual, possily, but do we know what they were due to do upon landing? People may look at me a bit strange if I travel in a suit, but they don't know that I have come from a meeting or going to one. I may even be trying to 'impress' the check-in staff to blag an upgrade. Whatever the reason I choose to dress the way I want to (assuming it is not indecent etc)

2) Intersting point about not being VS and it was G4S. Next time I see someone moan about the quality of food on VS will we all say 'don't blame VS, blame the caterer'?

3) VS must have been complicit in the person changing - otherwise where did they get the sleepsuit from?

4) Ignorance is no defence. VS should know the rules and be able to point out the error of the hapless G4S employee. Does a lorry driver go through a red light and then say 'oh, sorry, I didn't know the rules'. Know your job, especially if you are front line staff dealing with the public.

5) The fact that 'some' countries use the military to surpress their people is not an excuse. I may feel wary seeing people wearing certain clothing - does that mean I should insist they wear a sleepsuit?

All in all, a very sad state of affairs that someone who puts their life on the line can be treated this way.

Will I get special treatment if I wear my funeral directors outfit, my arrival and departure would be timed to perfection.

I thought UK forces had to get permission to travel in uniform?

[Decker]

G4S are charged with administering the security protocols on behalf of the airport NOT VS. VS employ the caterers they do not employ G4S. It would be more accurate to being prepared to sail through a green light and being flagged down by a PC who thought it was red and being told to wait. Sure you COULD argue your superior interpretation of the law. And you'd be right. But you'd still be arguing with a policeman and most people aren't too comfortable doing that.

The most logical scenario is that the G4S employee had just come from loading a Caribbean flight where the wearing of camo rig was banned. S/he then mistakenly applied the same logic to the new flight.

Again speculation but as you say we don't know. All we know is that a mistake was made and that an apology was tendered. As far as we were aware it was accepted. Regretfully a large number of people saw fit to somehow link clothing worn for cultural/religious reasons with an entirely optional clothing choice and gallantly refused to accept an apology they weren't even offered to continue their bile fueled invective.

I always thought "from the message boards" in Private Eye was too OTT to be true but having read ALL of the posts on the VS FB page all that was missing was "iv wun of those G4S blokes comes near my kids I'll swing for 'im".

Will I get special treatment if I wear my funeral directors outfit, my arrival and departure would be timed to perfection.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha, imagine the reaction.... ^) ^)

I am an ex-serviceman and I don't think I would have chosen to fly all those hours in my uniform. I really can't understand why she did, only she knows that. However I think the way she was treated was OTT and I believe that VA staff were wrongly advised by a jumped up "wannbee cop" G4S security man, who thought he had captured Osama's right hand man.