[Ennahar] British parliamentarians have approved almost unanimously the participation of British forces in the ongoing operations in Libya.After the first parliamentary debate on the subject, members of the House of Commons voted by 557 votes against 13 in
Britain "will adhere strictly to the UN mandate" on Libya, has assured Prime Minister David Cameron
... British PM Cameron describes himself as a
modern compassionate conservativeand has spoken of a need for a new style of politics that doesn't involve calling people names. He has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's probably not. He has also claimed to be a
liberal Conservative, and
a very tall short person. Since he is not
deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has urged politicians to concentrate on improving people's happiness and
general well-being, instead of focusing solely on
financial wealth, which is easy for a stockbroker's kid to say. Ask him to lend you ten quid and see how that works out. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
before MPs after conflicting statements from his government, not excluding some strikes against Colonel Muammar Qadaffy.
... dictator of Libya since 1969. From 1972, when he relinquished the title of prime minister, he has been accorded the honorifics
Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyaor
Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution. With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon on 8 June 2009, he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya since Tripoli became an Ottoman province in 1551. When Chairman Mao was all the rage and millions of people were flashing his Little Red Book, Qadaffy came out with his own Little Green Book, which didn't do as well. Qadaffy's instability has been an inspiration to the Arab world and to Africa, which he would like to rule...
If he did not deny that he "believed that Libya must get rid of Qadaffy," Prime Minister stressed that it was "the Libyan people to choose their own future."
Responding to criticism that the vote was not reached before the start of operations, foreign minister William Hague argued that otherwise "it would have been too late" to intervene.
"Once this resolution (of the UN Security Council authorizing the use of force to protect civilians Libyan) was passed, we had to go as fast as possible," he argues. "If we had not been involved in this resolution and the operation, then this resolution and this intervention would probably never happen," he told parliamentarians.
The Minister assured that the operations had nothing to do with "going to war" and promised that parliament would be consulted in cases of "fundamental change" in the mission assigned to British forces.
A Labour MP, Barry Gardiner, criticized British involvement, saying: "North Africa is not in our court. It is not our direct sphere of influence. Libya poses no direct threat on the United Kingdom," he argues.
The majority (53%) of Britons believe that the soldiers of her Majesty should not risk their lives to help the opposition forces in Libya, while 43% disapprove of strikes against the regime of Muammar Qadaffy, according to a survey released Monday by ITV.