UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond gives a press conference with Libyan Minister for Special Council Affairs in Tripoli, April 18, 2016. Ben Birchall/Press Association. All rights reserved.
In April 2016, then-Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited Libya to discuss what financial, diplomatic and military assistance Britain could give a country still reeling in chaos after the ousting of Gaddafi in a western-backed rebellion in 2011. On the table were proposals for air strikes to counter a fledgling so-called Islamic State (IS) presence in the coastal city of Sirte, and the deployment of an international force to help train Libyan soldiers.
On his return, he spoke to reassure an uneasy Parliament that the government would be “…consulting the House [of Commons] and allowing it to express an opinion through a vote” if plans were to emerge for a British combat role in the country. At the same time, he stressed that current plans were for non-combat training missions. As such, he effectively excluded the possibility of parliamentary approval of the deployment.
