When British and other Nationals were advised to leave Egypt, the advice to them was the same, (when you could obtain information) as people have been receiving in Libya. The means of getting to an airport (or other exit point) was up to the individual. This guidance is very limited at the 'best' of times, and hardly works for for people who are stuck in the centre of bombarded areas (like war zones in or near Tripoli)or marooned in a desert or anywhere else construed to be the middle of nowhere.
The word has got to the British media by various means, that the response of the British Government to helping our citizens and anyone else, is woefully inadequate, indeed it is pathetic. While other countries have been getting their citizens and other nationals out of the danger zones, where they can, under media pressure, the very best Britain could offer, and very late in the proceedings, was one plane which got stuck on the tarmac for 10 hours going nowhere. Meanwhile, in television interviews, the Foreign Secretary of State, William Hague, sat in a high-backed winged leather armchair, looking serious and important, making disingenuous statements about Government concerns and rescue activities.
While the revolutionary turmoil continues apace in the Middle East, cut backs have been announced in the maintaining of, and staffing of British foreign embassies and legations. We will be told, no doubt, that the services given, (I think we now need to know what they are)can be offered in a more progressive,(which means radical) and efficient manner. If a large number of countries take the same view, there will be no-one to merge with, no country on which we can piggyback minimal services, or ask to act on our behalf for British nationals abroad. What value is Britannia, when she is internationally sinking into an abyss.
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4 comments:
the most telling detail of the Libya evactuation was the fact that it will be HMS Cumberland's final journey as she is soon to be decommissioned and scrapped.
That is so poignant Ax. The issue was raised in Any Questions tonight on Radio.4 and I am sure I heard something mentioned elsewhere in the media.
There's a lot of barging ahead with dogma and ideology, without forethought for consequences, unintended and any other kind.
It's all been typical of the way we react nowadays.
I really do despair at our present day governments as they are mostly men of little virtue. Few, if any, have had a meaningful job before becoming MPs and consequently have no real understanding of such problems when they arise, or how to deal with them.
And as for having the resources to do so...!
Flighty xx
Succinctly put Mr f. Hague has performed badly. It was his responsibility and his watch. With his so-called political experience I think, we had the right to expect better. And to think he ran for the Conservative leadership!
Like you, I despair.
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