John Baron MP: Libyan intervention a disaster

MP says we must learn from our mistakes

Today the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, of which John Baron MP has been a member since 2010, issued its damning report into the British Government’s policy towards Libya since 2011. This period covers the decision to intervene militarily in support of the rebels against Gadaffi and the subsequent attempts to build a stable Libyan government. In particular, the report concludes that the British Government did not undertake sufficient analysis before intervening, did not establish a coherent strategy and that the intervention led to the foreseeable rise of extremist groups.

John was one of 15 MPs to vote against military intervention in 2011, and the only Conservative.

John said,

“Our decision to intervene in Libya has been a disaster, and the report underlines that the Government overstated the threat Gadaffi presented to the citizens of Benghazi – nothing in his previous actions suggested there would be a massacre. Our subsequent decision to expand the mission to régime change directly led to the current violence and instability, which has been greatly to the benefit of extremists and people traffickers.”

“Our Libyan intervention shows we are still to properly absorb the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan. We must learn from our mistakes and ensure any military action, which should always be the measure of last resort, is based upon sound intelligence and knowledge of the facts. A good start would be to restore adequate funding to the FCO, as well-informed analysis was sorely lacking on Libya.”