The intervention by Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland, Peter Hain, in the row over the contradictory assessments on paramilitary groups and organised crime from Shaun Woodward et al is, in reality, an acknowledgement that the NIO Security Minister has badly mishandled the situation. But in giving his intrepretation of a meeting he did not attend, Peter Hain is ignoring the reality of the statement by the Chairman of the Policing Board, Desmond Rea – who was there – and what the Daily Ireland, in its own inimitable way, referred to as Shaun Woodward “has slightly but significantly tweaked his words” when he attempted to clarify his remarks – although the quote in the editorial is not, in reality, where that tweak took place.For the benefit of those not paying attention I’ll repeat a point from my earlier post
Just to clarify further, the complex assessments of distinguishing between individuals being responsible for criminality and organisations being responsible relates to whether that organisation is attempting to apply a doctrine of plausible deniability.. with, as Mick pointed to, all of that doctrine’s inherent flaws.