ktlight
9th August 2011, 09:03
FYI:
Liam Fox is running the war in Libya from his sunbed in Spain, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The Defence Secretary has flown out a team of officials from his ministry to join him on his two-week holiday so he can stay in control of the campaign against Gaddafi.
The advisers include a military assistant, a special adviser and a signaller who is responsible for military communications.
However, critics may ask why the Defence Secretary is on holiday at all while Britain is involved in two conflicts.
The Daily Mail understands the team have set up a temporary office with secure laptops and phone lines in a hotel a few yards from where Dr Fox is believed to be staying in a villa with his wife and friends.
The MoD yesterday confirmed that the cost of flying the team out to Spain and their expenses for the fortnight would be met by taxpayers.
Dr Fox is understood to be interrupting his holiday at least twice a day to receive briefings from his advisers about developments in both Libya and Afghanistan – though it is not known whether he’s had to abandon his paella and sangria to order a helicopter strike.
A well-placed MoD source said: ‘At a time when we are involved in two conflicts, people would be complaining if the Defence Secretary wasn’t able to continue to work and oversee operations while abroad.
This isn’t out of the ordinary, he always has secure communications and staff with him when he is abroad to allow him to do his job. He has not taken half the office with him.’
The source pointed out that Prime Minister David Cameron has also taken a small team of advisers with him to Tuscany so he can continue to work from abroad.
The source added: ‘Liam wants to stay in control of operations. He is a target authority which means that he has to authorise decisions about operational targets in Libya.’
Libyan rebels are now just 50 miles from Gaddafi’s stronghold in Tripoli after seizing the small desert town of Bir Al-Ghanam.
Anti-Gaddafi fighters had been held up on the outskirts of the town since late June, but moved in at the weekend under the cover of Nato warplanes.
They said their next target was Zawiyah, a town on the Mediterranean coast 30 miles west of Tripoli.
‘Once we get to Zawiyah, Gaddafi is finished,’ said one rebel fighter. Dr Fox and his team flew out to Spain at the weekend. The advisers are being given a small amount of time off at the weekends to relax.
source
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023900/Libya-Liam-Fox-directs-conflict-Spanish-hotel-taxpayers-expense.html
Liam Fox is running the war in Libya from his sunbed in Spain, the Daily Mail can reveal.
The Defence Secretary has flown out a team of officials from his ministry to join him on his two-week holiday so he can stay in control of the campaign against Gaddafi.
The advisers include a military assistant, a special adviser and a signaller who is responsible for military communications.
However, critics may ask why the Defence Secretary is on holiday at all while Britain is involved in two conflicts.
The Daily Mail understands the team have set up a temporary office with secure laptops and phone lines in a hotel a few yards from where Dr Fox is believed to be staying in a villa with his wife and friends.
The MoD yesterday confirmed that the cost of flying the team out to Spain and their expenses for the fortnight would be met by taxpayers.
Dr Fox is understood to be interrupting his holiday at least twice a day to receive briefings from his advisers about developments in both Libya and Afghanistan – though it is not known whether he’s had to abandon his paella and sangria to order a helicopter strike.
A well-placed MoD source said: ‘At a time when we are involved in two conflicts, people would be complaining if the Defence Secretary wasn’t able to continue to work and oversee operations while abroad.
This isn’t out of the ordinary, he always has secure communications and staff with him when he is abroad to allow him to do his job. He has not taken half the office with him.’
The source pointed out that Prime Minister David Cameron has also taken a small team of advisers with him to Tuscany so he can continue to work from abroad.
The source added: ‘Liam wants to stay in control of operations. He is a target authority which means that he has to authorise decisions about operational targets in Libya.’
Libyan rebels are now just 50 miles from Gaddafi’s stronghold in Tripoli after seizing the small desert town of Bir Al-Ghanam.
Anti-Gaddafi fighters had been held up on the outskirts of the town since late June, but moved in at the weekend under the cover of Nato warplanes.
They said their next target was Zawiyah, a town on the Mediterranean coast 30 miles west of Tripoli.
‘Once we get to Zawiyah, Gaddafi is finished,’ said one rebel fighter. Dr Fox and his team flew out to Spain at the weekend. The advisers are being given a small amount of time off at the weekends to relax.
source
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023900/Libya-Liam-Fox-directs-conflict-Spanish-hotel-taxpayers-expense.html