F David Cameron has been forced to apologise and Hague has announced his own inquiry into the cock-up. But that appears to be a ploy just to take the heat off himself. The Foreign Affairs Committee's Tory chairman, Richard Ottoway, is not blaming General Hague for the delays in mounting the rescue mission, saying it was a "fast moving scene" and the Foreign Secretary should not be criticised. But Ottoway won't be able to control the Labour MPs and the Mole hears they are gearing up to give Hague a pasting when he appears before them on March 16. They will have some searching questions for General Hague – and the Mole can list a few: We have a warship in the area - HMS Cumberland - which is armed and ready to defend itself. But why did the Navy decide not to send it in to Libya's second city Benghazi where at least 100 Britons are said to be trapped? Why did the Foreign Office not react more quickly before dispatching a second plane when it found that its charter jet was stranded at Gatwick because of a break-down due to technical difficulties? Was it due to the cuts in public spending? And why was there hesitation about dispatching an RAF Hercules from Malta? The Ministry of Defence said it abandoned the plan over fears that Gaddafi would see it as a prelude to an invasion. But there are suspicions that the RAF was worried about overstretching its resources when its main focus is on Afghanistan - is that true? The Cobra crisis group, normally convened to handle emergencies, did not meet until this morning. Why not? While General Hague dithered, Turkey sent ferries and the Portuguese sent in a flight, as did the French, Germans, Russians, Bulgarians and the Dutch. Britain's humiliating response was highlighted when a Scottish oil worker telephoned the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on his mobile to ask for help. He was stuck in the desert with 90 British workers and they were living in "daily fear of our lives" while the Foreign Office was doing nothing to get them out. Why should Brits in trouble have to ring the BBC to get the Foreign Secretary to act? The whole episode is a sorry reflection on Britain's record in north Africa, especially as Libya includes Tobruk, the Libyan port retaken from Rommel's army by the Desert Rats in 1942 after the battle of El Alamein under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. It is not difficult to imagine what Monty would have said about General Hague's efforts today. Meanwhile, David Cameron continues flying around the region in a prime ministerial jet with 30 business executives and a pack of Lobby journalists on board. The Foreign Affairs committee might wish to ask Hague why the PM did not drop off the businessmen at the nearest safe airport and fly his own mercy mission to rescue the stranded Brits? No doubt his new strategy team will have advised him on health and safety grounds it was too dangerous - but do they really think Tony Blair would have hesitated? Little wonder bookmakers William Hill have this morning reduced the odds on Hague ceasing to be Foreign Secretary by the end of March from 50-1 to 20-1. Filed under: William Hague, Libya protests, Libya evacuation, Libya, Libya crisis, Tripoli evacuationGen Hague and the great Tripoli evacuation cock-up
The Mole: Not Britain’s finest hour – and why didn’t Cameron give up his plane to the rescue mission?
Friday, 25 February 2011
LAST UPDATED 1:59 PM, FEBRUARY 24, 2011
oreign Secretary William Hague faces a grilling by the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee over the fiasco of Britain's efforts to rescue its trapped nationals from Tripoli. While the Turks managed to send ferries across the Mediterranean and evacuate 3,000 people from Benghazi on Wednesday morning, the Brits only managed to get their first plane into Libya this morning.
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