The week in politics: The no-fly zone stays grounded
It started out so boldly. But by the end of the week, the government’s rhetoric on Libya was shifting.
David Cameron has developed a habit of making bold foreign policy remarks. His blunt rhetoric against Pakistan while in India last summer ruffled feathers. That was the worst of a series of straight talkin’ eyebrow-raisers; in diplomacy, we concluded, the prime minister is keen to jump the gun.
Nothing occurred to undermine this impression this week. Cameron, perhaps heady after sending in the military to rescue British oil workers in Libya, told the Commons he was considering a no-fly zone over Libya. The idea was merely being floated, officials pointed out. But usually at the tentative stage these feelers are carried out behind closed doors. The noises coming from the government slowly shifted over the week, until this afternoon the practical and legal difficulties essentially ruled the option out altogether.
UK military prepares for Libyan no-fly zone
Nick Clegg endured a mixed week, too. He was torn apart in deputy prime minister’s questions on Tuesday but rallied with a speech in Brussels calling on Europeans to fundamentally reassess their relationship with north Africa. Later in the week he was in Luton, making remarks on tackling extremism of a very different flavour to David Cameron’s.
Clegg: Nothing’s possible with no money left
We failed North Africa, Clegg tells Europe
Nick Clegg: We must engage extremists
The big calamity for the Liberal Democrats came in Barnsley Central, however, where they were pushed from second to an unexpectedly humiliating sixth. Voters deserted Clegg’s party in droves, in apparent protest at their complicity in the coalition’s spending cuts agenda. It doesn’t bode well for the Lib Dems as May 5th’s local elections approach.
Barnsley Central: Lib Dems punished into sixth
Labour will be looking to do well in councils across the country then, and so the focus of their agenda continues to be on austerity. Ed Miliband began the week by warning of a “cost of living crisis”, taking the gloom of opposition to whole new levels. The government is doing much of his job for him; home secretary Theresa May announcing this week that police officers will have to face pay cuts if they are to avoid major job losses. But still Labour stuttered, thanks to a spanner in the works from Peter Mandelson. His criticism of Miliband’s approach will give the ‘new generation’ leader something to grind his teeth over at the weekend.
Miliband fears ‘cost of living’ crisis
