A furious row broke out this morning after the BBC reported that Ed Miliband was due to make a personal attack on David Cameron over the deaths of thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean.
Miliband’s office was forced to deny he was blaming Cameron personally when he planned to say in a speech later today that the recent tragedies at sea were a direct result of the failure of post–conflict planning following the British and French-led attack on Libya in 2011.
By then, however, one Tory source had already told the BBC that the remarks were “provocative and shameful" and "not becoming of a prime minister” .
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The row erupted after Radio 4's Today programme reported that the Labour leader would tell the Chatham House think tank that the migrants' deaths “could have been anticipated”.
“It should have been avoided,” Miliband was due to say. “And Britain could have played its part in ensuring the international community stood by the people of Libya in practice rather than standing behind the unfounded hopes of potential progress only in principle.”
Liz Truss, the Environment Secretary, told the Today programme that it was “absolutely offensive” to accuse Cameron of contributing to the migrants’ deaths.
Labour tried to pour cold water on the issue. Norman Smith, the BBC’s assistant political editor, tweeted: “Labour insist not laying blame for deaths in Mediterranean at Mr Cameron's door.”
Douglas Alexander, Labour’s foreign affairs spokesman, accused the Tories of “a manufactured row” and charged the BBC with running a headline that bore little relation to the speech Miliband actually intended to make.
Yet under questioning by Today presenter James Naughtie, Alexander stood by the central allegation against Cameron and the international community. “It is a failure of post-conflict planning for which the international community bears responsibility,” said Alexander.
By 8 am, the BBC had toned down its reporting of the upcoming speech, saying Miliband would claim western countries must bear some of the blame. Smith said the Tories were seeking to turn the row into a challenge over whether Miliband was fit to become PM.
It is unclear whether Miliband will rewrite the Libya section of his speech. What seems certain is that he will accuse Cameron of the "biggest loss of influence for our country in a generation" through "small-minded isolationism”.
That is the nub of what the New Statesman calls Miliband’s first major speech on foreign affairs since he became Labour leader – and the headline his team had been hoping for from the BBC this morning.
