Hague says Government working round-the-clock to rescue remaining Britons in Libya

Tim Montgomerie

On Andrew Marr this morning, the Government, Hague admitted, had a difficult day on Wednesday when planes meant to rescue Britons stranded in Libya failed to take off on time. The overnight news is much better, however, and the newspaper front pages reflect that. The overnight news came after YouGov had measured the public's view of the handling of the situation:

"54% of people think that the government have responded badly to the situation in Libya, 59% think they have performed badly in protecting the safety of British citizens in Libya."

One thing you cannot accuse William Hague of, during this difficult week, has been hiding from the media. He's constantly been on radio and TV, attempting to explain what the FCO, and the whole government, has been doing. I get email alerts from the FCO almost every other hour with updates.

On Marr this morning the Foreign Secretary was in a calm and confident mode. He addressed the immediate evacuation, the Libyan regime, defence capability and dealing with odious regimes.

• The immediate evacuation: He said that landing and take off fees had "rocketed" at Tripoli airport and the British government had had to pay cash towards airport officials in order to ensure the planes rescuing Britons completed their mission. He said that HMS Cumberland was heading back to Benghazi to collect more British nationals, although large numbers were not expected to be picked up. The Foreign Secretary said that he was holding "endless" meetings with Liam Fox but wouldn't, for obvious reasons, pre-brief on other operations of the kind that, last night, rescued 150 people by two RAF Hercules aircraft. Most Britons still stranded in Libya are thought to be in isolated desert locations.
• The Libyan regime: Mr Hague confirmed that the diplomatic immunity of Muammar Gaddafi and his family had been revoked and all arm sale licences had been cancelled.
• British defence capacity: Mr Hague insisted that Britain has the capacities it needs to protect Britons and British interests around the world. The Defence Secretary, Dr Fox, sets this out in more detail in a piece for The Sunday Telegraph. He explains how older equipments and projects are being phased out and money focused on new threats, not least to combat cyber attacks. Former Army Officer Patrick Mercer MP points out, however, in The Sunday Express that "HMS Cumberland will prove crucial in the Libyan affair, yet she’s about to be scrapped". He calls for the defence budget to be strengthened.
• Dealing with rogue states: Mr Hague, who wasn't pressed on arms sales, said that it was in Britain's interests to talk to questionable regimes - including Libya and Syria - as part of a process of encouraging them to change. What was not acceptable was when relations became too cosy.

The big task facing Hague - and Cameron - is to achieve more coherence and depth in overall foreign policy. Within today's ConservativeHome newslinks there are strong criticisms of Coalition foreign policy from John Rentoul, Andrew Rawnsley and Fraser Nelson. Each makes valid points.