LONDON, April 9: Most of the media, the opinion makers and opposition politicians here are appalled at the decision of the Ministry of Defence to allow the 15 freed sailors and Marines to sell their ‘ordeal’ in captivity to the media.

This new debate has jarred those Britons who were already at a loss to understand why the British Navy decided to send the 15 to inspect a commercial ship in the disputed Shat-al-Arab waters without proper back up, the meek surrender of the sailors without a whimper of a protest or resistance and the haste with which they agreed to cooperate with the Iranian authorities quickly admitting to be in the wrong waters and apologising to the Iranian people for the mistake.

The Times in its leading article on Monday said the decision to allow the 15 service personnel to sell their stories to the media would have been in poor taste at any point, but coming after the recent deaths of six soldiers in Iraq it appears crass in the extreme.

“It is bad enough that the whole episode has been something of a circus. To make it look as if men and women in uniform have just emerged from some warped version of Military Big Brother compounds the sense of farce. It should not have been allowed to happen,” the newspaper added.

In the same newspaper Bob Stewart in his analysis of the event (Our forces will pay with a world wide loss of reputation) said the sailors and Marines held in Iran have been so compliant and have already said so much that they have caused excruciating embarrassment to many people in this country.

Continuing he said: “There is an inducement to say that things were as bad as possible. But whatever they say will be placed under the most intense scrutiny as investigative reporters from other redtop newspapers are likely to be hot on the trail to put holes in their stories.

“None of the captives appears to have been beaten up or seriously mishandled. When you compare that with people who were captured during previous conflicts and who were treated so horribly it is not easy to understand why they were so compliant.”

Lord Heseltine, the Conservative former defence secretary said he was “profoundly shocked” by the move and suggested that other forces staff would be equally upset after a tide of condemnation engulfed the government last night.

Speaking on the Today programme this morning, he said: “What an extraordinary story that people who every day take calculated risks with their lives are expected to earn relatively small sums of money whilst people who get themselves taken hostage, in circumstances which are worth exploring, can make a killing.”

“I have never heard anything so appalling.”

According to the defence ministry officials, what the 15 had gone through in Iran was in some ways similar to those who had been awarded the Victoria Cross.

A ministry statement said: “Serving personnel are not allowed to enter into financial arrangements with media organisations. However, in exceptional circumstances such as the award of a Victoria Cross or events such as those in recent days, permission can be granted by commanding officers and the ministry.”

But there were fears that the move was only taken to trump Iran in the propaganda war, and that it was undignified for the sailors to profit from their experience so soon.