The ‘evil bastards'

Press, 29 August 1979, Page 13

The ‘evil bastards'

Lord Mountbatten’s violent death dominated the British morning newspapers yesterday with the mood summed up by a banner headline in the “Daily Express” saying: “These evil bastards.” “No doubt the cowardly psychopaths who killed firn, as in the case of the assassinated Airey Neave, believe that the blood on their hands will change British policy towards Ireland,” the “Express” said. “He was a simple man who represented and inspired the best in all of us . . . qualities that the evil bastards responsible for his death will never understand if they go on killing and maiming for another thousand years.” The “Sun” said: “The

whole civilised world will feel horror and revulsion at the brutal, murder of Ear] Mountbatten of Burma. “These are sick-minded fanatics for whom no act is too cowardly or too foul.” The “Daily Mirror” printed a photograph of Lord Mountbatten in full naval regalia with underneath the inscription, “Murdered by the 1.R.A.” On the back page it commented: “The I.R.A. butchers who murdered Lord Mountbatten and two teen-age boys claim they acted in the name of freedom. “Nothing could be further from the truth. “Could anything be guaranteed to p sh peace

farther away than ever to fix hate more firmly in peoples hearts?” The “Daily Mail” called the killing despicable. “The assassination brutally brings home to all of us that everyone, including the highest in the land, in this case one who is close to the throne itself, is in the front line against I.R.A. terrorism,” it said. The “Daily Telegraph” said the “cruel crime’’ seemed to be the product of diseased n.inds rather than of political calculation. “This was indeed a blow struck at the very heart of the British people, or at least as near to it as cowards dare aim,” the “Telegraph” said.