May 4387Manningham-Buller exposed lying about army recordA young Frederick Manningham-Buller back in his ̶a̶r̶m̶y̶ butler yearsDuring the election campaign, National Movement chairman Frederick Manningham-Buller made much of the time he spent in the armed forces during the 4350s, speaking about how "the army made me the man I am today", "I went into the army a boy and came out a man" and "when you've served in the army, you love your country so much, it's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't had the same experience".
An investigation by
HateWatch has now revealed, after months and months of research, that Manningham-Buller's claim to have served in the army is in fact not true.
It is true that he worked for 8 months as a butler for General Richard Billingsgate, who was then a senior member of the General Staff. He also apparently sometimes accompanied the General on army business, working as an aide. However, he was never a member of the army and never wore an army uniform, although he was bound by the Official Secrets Act during the course of his employment.
Manningham-Buller has responded as follows:
Was I technically a member of the armed forces? Well, how do you expect me to remember after all of these years? All I remember, and all that counts, is that as far as I was concerned - then and now - I saw myself as being with the armed forces. That's what counts. In my heart, I was serving the army, serving my country and protecting the Mordusian people, and I'm incredibly proud to have done it.
Manningham-Buller also denied HateWatch's statement that he was "just a butler", insisting "I assure you I was doing much more than that, I was involved in some very high-level and dangerous stuff, but I can't talk about it because of the Official Secrets Act".
The National Movement chairman is facing a backlash over these revelations from some of his own supporters, a number of whom come from families with army backgrounds. He is also facing ridicule in the press and in Parliament, where a
motion is being discussed to change his nameplate to "Mr. Butler".