Is there not therefore an obligation on Ministers to make a statement next week on the changes from categories 5 to 4, 3, 2, 1, or whatever they were, in the level of nuclear alert earlier this month as a result of the Libyan Crisis?
If ever there was an occasion when Europe should have been speaking with one voice it was surely in the Present Libyan Crisis.
Does my right hon. Friend agree that if the treaty were rejected by the Senate it would have immense consequences for the Anglo-American relationship, and, in view of the support that we gave to the Americans in the Libyan Crisis and in the light of the Tokyo conference, to which he has already referred, it would, to quote the American ambassador, "reek of selfishness and hypocrisy" if that treaty were rejected?
Does my right hon. Friend agree that if the treaty were rejected by the Senate it would have immense consequences for the Anglo-American relationship, and, in view of the support that we gave to the Americans in the Libyan Crisis and in the light of the Tokyo conference, to which he has already referred, it would, to quote the American ambassador,reek of selfishness and hypocrisyif that treaty were rejected?
If that Committee had met three weeks ago, it would be another six months before it could express any opinion on our collective response to the Libyan Crisis.
Turning to the European Council, I want to focus on three issues: the military options available to the international community regarding Libya, the wider response to the Libyan Crisis and the need to re-energise the middle east peace process.
When I said in a debate last week that the Prime Minister, after discussing the Libyan Crisis on Friday, would be asked to leave the room, the hon. Member for Stone intervened, as some Members might remember, and read out a press release saying that the British Prime Minister would take part in these decisions on the architecture of economic governance of Europe as a whole.
Does she join me in regretting that far greater efforts were not made at the beginning of the Libyan Crisis to emote some sort of political settlement despite all the obvious obstacles?
We had rather a poor start when the Libyan Crisis erupted, with delays in evacuating our citizens and the apparently crass attempt to infiltrate Special Forces into the country near Benghazi.
My Lords, first, I applaud my noble friend Lord Howell of Guildford for so characteristically and knowledgeably opening our proceedings and for, ever since the Libyan Crisis broke, keeping your Lordships' House so very well informed.
First, the regional inter-agency flash appeal for the Libyan Crisis was revised on1 April, with $310 million requested for the period from March to June.
I will try to be as non-partisan between the services as possible but, following the hon. Lady's provocation, I cannot resist pointing out that the Navy would have been an even quicker responder to the Libyan Crisis had we not decided shortly before that blew up to take our last remaining aircraft carrier out of service.
One has only to cast one's mind back to the Libyan Crisis and the subsequent, exhaustive efforts made by the West in sourcing and retrieving the plethora of weapons that were lost in the post-war chaos.
The Armed Forces have a key role in helping to deliver such aspirations, but I have a serious concern that they are not sufficiently resourced to do so, particularly after the steady erosion of military capability over the past four years, so well exemplified by the unforgivable lack of an aircraft carrier in the Libyan Crisis.