Action on Libya

David Cameron has given his clearest statement yet that the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi should step down immediately.  Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: “It is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go and to go now, there is no future for Libya that includes him” and he said the British Government was “putting serious pressure” on the regime to relinquish power by imposing a travel ban and an asset freeze.

The Prime Minister also confirmed that a number of Britons had been rescued on Sunday and although there had been some risks, he decided it was the “right thing to do” to ensure British nationals in remote oil fields were evacuated from the country safely. On Sunday evening the Foreign Office confirmed that the Chancellor George Osborne had taken the decision to freeze the assets of the Gaddafi family before the markets open on Monday.  This follows the UN Security Council Resolution tabled by France and Britain, backing sanctions on Libya is response to state violence against protesters. – PoliticsHome Read the rest of this entry »

Ed Miliband: Britain needs a more ethical approach to foreign policy

British citizens facing great danger in Libya have a right to expect more than David Cameron’s shambolic, incompetent government gave them last week. All of us have the right to expect a more coherent and principled foreign policy than the one on show: trying to pretend a trade mission for defence manufacturers and other businesses is a “democracy tour” really doesn’t cut it. But the wider truth is that all western governments are profoundly challenged by the chain of events that began, 10 weeks ago, with a young Tunisian man setting himself on fire in anger and desperation. The central assumption of the durability of long-standing and unpleasant regimes has been swept away. This change in circumstance has left many of the old orthodoxies seeming out of date and on the wrong side of history. – Ed Miliband, The Guardian Read the rest of this entry »

Tory plot to oust speaker

The government is privately backing a plan to oust the Commons Speaker John Bercow after the next election. Senior ministers are supporting a proposal which could force the Speaker to face a secret ballot of all MPs to retain his post. If he fails to be re-elected it would be the first time a sitting Speaker has been removed from office against their will. Ministers believe there is a majority in the House of Commons in favour of removing Bercow – but MPs are worried about voting in public to remove him in case he survives in the job. They are giving their tacit support to a plan that would change Commons rules to ensure that the Speaker has to be approved for re-election by secret ballot at the start of the Parliamentary term. As Select Committee chairs are already elected by secret ballot at the start of every Parliament, they believe they can sell it as part of the wider reforms programme which it will be difficult for the Speaker to object to. – the Independent

Ministers have given the green light to a new attempt by MPs to oust Commons Speaker John Bercow. Members of the Cabinet have revealed they will cooperate with a plan to change Parliamentary rules so the Speaker can be kicked out by secret ballot. It would allow MPs to remove the unpopular Speaker without them having to put their heads above the parapet. Despite the discontent towards  Mr Bercow – who is accused of bias against the Tories – many of his critics have been reluctant to push for him to quit for fear of suffering reprisals. But Conservative Party managers have decided to give MPs a free vote on plans to change the rules and bring in a secret ballot, Cabinet sources have revealed. – Daily Mail Read the rest of this entry »