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I strongly suspect Cameron will give Blair a peerage and bring him out of the cold into the cabinet as 'advisor', just like Brown did to Mendelson. Next they'll have a cabaret show specially for the entertainment of cabinet colleagues, featuring Jackie Smith doing a striptease act. Drinks will be on taxpayers' expence.
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Revealed: David Cameron's secret talks with Tony Blair over Libya crisis
By Tim Shipman and Sam GreenhillLast updated at 8:22 AM on 3rd March 2011
David Cameron has been secretly consulting Tony Blair about Libya despite publicly criticising his links with Colonel Gaddafi.
Senior officials say the Prime Minister has held at least two conversations in the past fortnight with the former Labour premier, now a Middle East peace envoy.
Mr Cameron has consulted Mr Blair about the Libyan dictator’s state of mind and sought advice about how to make him quit.
Bunkered: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi tours Tripoli in a golf buggy after his defiant speech warning the West not to intervene in Libya
Lord Mandelson has twice met Gaddafi’s son Saif. Baroness Symons resigned this week as an adviser to the National Economic Development Board of Libya, while Mr Ingram works for a defence firm which has sought contracts in Libya.
Gaddafi waves before making a speech in Tripoli in which he sought to defuse tensions after more than 10 days of anti-government protests
Meanwhile, Libyan opposition forces prepare themselves for battle about 5km away from Ajdabiya, south-west of Benghazi, eastern Libya
TODAY'S POLL
‘They will set foot in hell – worse than Afghanistan,’ he said. ‘We will enter a bloody war and thousands of Libyans will die if the United States enters or Nato enters. We will fight until the last man and woman.
‘We are ready to hand out weapons to a million, or two million or three million, and another Vietnam will begin. It doesn’t matter to us. We no longer care about anything.’
Secret talks: David Cameron has been consulting Tony Blair about how to remove Colonel Gaddafi from Libya
BRITAIN LEADS REFUGEE CRISIS
Britain will today spearhead an emergency airlift of thousands of refugees stranded on Tunisia’s border with Libya, amid fears of a humanitarian disaster following Colonel Gaddafi’s bloody crackdown.
Three aircraft chartered by the British government will fly ‘shuttles’ between Tunisia and Egypt to repatriate up to 6,000 Egyptian workers who have fled the Libyan chaos.
Aid agencies have warned of a mounting crisis as some 85,000 mainly Egyptian migrant workers have massed across the Tunisian border, with a further 40,000, desperate and hungry, waiting on the Libyan side.
France will join Britain in flying the migrant workers home after an appeal by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for an international airlift to prevent a ‘humanitarian crisis’ in the camps.
The Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS York, currently in the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, is also assisting with the relief operation.
Last night the Foreign Office said it had evacuated 43 people, of whom 11 were British.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: ‘There is a real danger that without urgent assistance the humanitarian situation on the Libyan border will deteriorate rapidly.’
Three aircraft chartered by the British government will fly ‘shuttles’ between Tunisia and Egypt to repatriate up to 6,000 Egyptian workers who have fled the Libyan chaos.
Aid agencies have warned of a mounting crisis as some 85,000 mainly Egyptian migrant workers have massed across the Tunisian border, with a further 40,000, desperate and hungry, waiting on the Libyan side.
France will join Britain in flying the migrant workers home after an appeal by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for an international airlift to prevent a ‘humanitarian crisis’ in the camps.
The Royal Navy Type 42 destroyer HMS York, currently in the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya, is also assisting with the relief operation.
Last night the Foreign Office said it had evacuated 43 people, of whom 11 were British.
International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said: ‘There is a real danger that without urgent assistance the humanitarian situation on the Libyan border will deteriorate rapidly.’
The bellicose rhetoric came as Gaddafi ordered a military counter-attack against the rebels in Eastern Libya.
His warplanes bombed pro-democracy fighters south of Benghazi.
Leaders of the opposition National Libyan Council called for UN-backed airstrikes against African mercenaries who are still being flown in by Gaddafi – but stressed that they did not want foreign troops on the ground.
But with international support for even a no-fly zone flaky, Mr Cameron and his advisers are concerned the rebel forces will be unable to oust the dictator and his henchmen from their stronghold in the capital Tripoli.
The Prime Minister has been holding a series of secret briefings with academics and Libyan experts in the hope of finding a way forward and turning the screws on the regime.
He has denounced the ‘appalling dodgy deals’ between the Labour government and the Gaddafi regime, which led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber.
But senior government sources have confirmed that contacts with Mr Blair have been conducted ‘at the highest levels’ – code for Mr Cameron.
Rocket launchers are prepared by rebel groups to take to the frontline in Al Brega
Humanitarian concerns: Refugees wait to cross the border into Libya as a U.N. refugee spokesman said 'the situation is reaching crisis point'
A senior Whitehall official said Mr Blair’s office warned Downing Street he was planning to talk to the Libyan despot, telling him it was time to go.
The refugee camp, 10km from the Ras Jdir border crossing, organized by the Tunisian Red Cross and UNHCR. About 85,000 refugees have crossed at Ras Jdir since the uprising began two weeks ago
Since then, Mr Cameron has discussed the situation personally with Mr Blair. A second senior source said: ‘It’s not a case of Cameron using him as a conduit to Gaddafi, it’s a case of picking his brains.’
Mr Cameron’s efforts to put pressure on the Gaddafi regime have created tensions with the Liberal Democrats.
Armoured car: Gaddafi makes his getaway after a three-hour radio rant
FORCES FACING £1BN MORE CUTS
The Army, Royal Navy and RAF are bracing themselves for further bruising defence cuts of up to £1billion.
Military chiefs have been warned that more battleships, warplanes and troops could be axed next month to save money.
The Ministry of Defence is already under intense pressure to reverse cuts including 17,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen as the crisis in the Middle East escalates. But Defence Minister Lord Astor blew the lid off plans to make fresh reductions by telling peers the work was ‘ongoing’.
Military chiefs have been warned that more battleships, warplanes and troops could be axed next month to save money.
The Ministry of Defence is already under intense pressure to reverse cuts including 17,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen as the crisis in the Middle East escalates. But Defence Minister Lord Astor blew the lid off plans to make fresh reductions by telling peers the work was ‘ongoing’.
He said: ‘In my view, this can’t be done without a UN Security Council resolution.’ He added that support for military action had to be obtained from a wider ‘circle’ than the West and must include the Arab world.
■ David Cameron’s handling of the Middle East crisis has left the public urging him to focus on domestic policy instead.
A poll from ITV News and ComRes found that 66 per cent of voters thought the Prime Minister should concentrate on problems facing Britain.
The Government’s handling of the rescue of British citizens trapped in Libya was also criticised. Just 18 per cent thought it was well handled.
Explore more:
- People:
- Tony Blair,
- Gaddafi,
- David Cameron,
- Andrew Mitchell
- Places:
- Tunisia,
- Egypt,
- Bosnia,
- France,
- Vietnam,
- Libya,
- Afghanistan,
- Europe,
- Middle East
- Organisations:
- Ministry of Defence,
- Royal Navy,
- Advisory Committee On Business Appointments,
- Un Security Council,
- British Government
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362345/David-Camerons-secret-Libya-crisis-talks-Tony-Blair.html#ixzz1FWciq0lT
