Give Tony Hayward a break

Another bad day for BP and its Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, today as pictures of him on a yachting trip are plastered across the newspapers. The story has provoked another barrage of criticism as Americans accuse him of being insensitive and 'insulting'.

However Mr Hayward has not had an easy few weeks and such savage criticism does seem a little excessive considering what Mr Hayward has done. I don't see why people have such a problem. What do people expect Mr Hayward to do on his day off? Sit in a dark, empty room doing nothing? Or not have a day off at all?

I don't buy in to this argument that somehow the criticism of BP is motivated by an anti-British sentiment on the part of the Obama administration and the US political establishment. The reality is if an American company had been drilling in the North Sea and the same sort of environmental catastrophe had occurred, we'd expect an equally tough and abrasive line from our own politicians. Instead Mr Obama and other American politicians of both parties are using this incident to score political points, not to extend some sort of grudge against the British.

Nevertheless Mr Hayward is becoming a victim in this. He does have questions to answer and is accountable for the evident blunder his company has made. But saying his Mr Hayward has 'no right to free time at all' (as one American put it) is disproportional and unnecessary. It is time we gave Mr Hayward a break.