Liam Fox, 25 April: The game's up for Gaddafi. William Hague, yesterday: Prepare for long haul

Published on Tuesday 26 April 2011 19:21

THE UK government appeared to be in further confusion last night over its strategy for Libya after a Downing Street spokeswoman briefed journalists that Foreign Secretary William Hague had told colleagues Britain was in for the "long haul".

The statement appeared to contradict claims by Defence Secretary Liam Fox on Monday that the "game is up" for the Gaddafi regime "very soon or relatively soon".

Mr Hague was forced to say that there "is no stalemate" when he appeared before MPs to make a statement on the conflict.

But the comment appeared to underpin fears that Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi and his regime are digging in against the rebels despite the continued allied bombardments. Yesterday there was further evidence that the battle over the western city of Misrata is becoming increasingly entrenched.

Speaking to Cabinet colleagues in the morning, Mr Hague is said to have insisted that there were "grounds for optimism", 38 days after international military action was launched to enforce United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.

Summarising Mr Hague's comments to Cabinet, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The general tone was that there were grounds for optimism, good progress was being made, the alliance was holding up very well, but clearly we need to turn up the pressure.

"The mission is going in the right direction but we need to prepare for the long haul."

The confusion and criticism about announcements over the spring recess led to stinging criticism in the Commons.

• Gaddafi supporters shell Misrata port area to isolate rebel forces

Labour's foreign affairs spokesman Douglas Alexander said: "The ad hoc and apparently unco-ordinated manner in which they were announced, routed in no clearly articulated plan, has I fear, only served to increase anxieties held by many members of the public."

There was further confusion over comments made by Dr Fox in a newspaper interview that members of the Gaddafi regime may be legitimate targets.

The comments were a repeat of a gaffe made by the Defence Secretary - who was in America yesterday - at the start of the conflict when he said that Col Gaddafi was a target.

Labour defence spokesman Jim Murphy said: "People will be very concerned that at this stage in the conflict a strategy appears to be being cobbled together rather than implemented."

In the Commons, former Labour defence secretary Bob Ainsworth and Conservative ex-foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind pushed for action to ensure the conflict was not a long haul.

Sir Malcolm asked Mr Hague: "Will you not consider that there is much more military support that can be given, consistent with the UN resolution, which allows all necessary measures for the protection of civilians throughout Libya?" Meanwhile, opponents of the conflict called for a new vote in the Commons on the issue.

John Baron, the only Conservative to vote against British action in Libya, said it was clear that Britain, the US and France "will accept nothing less than Gaddafi's removal".

Labour's John McDonnell described Britain's intervention in Libya as a "blood-soaked political shambles".