Recall Commons over Libya – MPs

MPs are currently away from the Commons for Easter recess

A Tory MP has said Parliament should be recalled over Libya, after the prime minister said there could be no peace while Col Gaddafi remains in power.

John Baron, the only Conservative to vote against military action, told the BBC the PM’s statement was a “clear alteration to the original mission”.

He said the action had been put forward as a humanitarian mission – adding: “Clearly that is no longer the case.”

Parliament is currently in recess – MPs are due to return on 26 April.

In a letter published in the Times and other newspapers on Friday, David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama said allowing Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi to remain in power would “betray” the Libyan people.

Writing online in the New York Times, and in the pages of the Times, Le Figaro and the International Herald Tribune they said : “So long as Gaddafi is in power, Nato and its coalition partners must maintain their operation so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds.”

It comes amid signs of division within Nato – only a few of its 28 members – including France, the UK, Canada, Belgium, Norway and Denmark – are conducting air strikes.

The UN resolution authorises military force to protect civilians under threat of attack – but does not allow an occupying force. Col Gaddafi’s removal is not a specific military objective of the action.

Mr Baron, the backbench MP for Basildon & Billericay, told the BBC: “I believe Parliament should be recalled. This statement is a clear alteration to the original mission and that would justify a recall.”

“When we debated this the case was put this was a humanitarian mission. Clearly that is no longer the case and maybe never was.”

He added: “If you were being charitable you could say this was an example of mission creep. If you were being uncharitable [you] could say it was an ulterior motive.”

Fellow Conservative MP Richard Ottaway, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said he still had reservations about where the mission in Libya was going and it was important to comply with the UN resolution.

But he told the BBC: “I think the letter today … doesn’t actually take things any further. It is, in truth, a reiteration of the original position set out a month ago and I disagree with my colleague John Baron that it is a change of policy.”

“This is a humanitarian mission and it is protection of the civilian population which is top of the order book and, I think, has not altered. We should only be recalling Parliament if there is a change in policy.”

When MPs debated the military action on 21 March – after air strikes had begun – 557 MPs backed the enforcement of the UN resolution and 13 voted against it.

BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins said a senior Liberal Democrat MP had also expressed his reservations about the mission on Friday.

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