Inside The Room - The Libya Conflict: The Campaign (Part Two)

Political Currency

Persephonica

News, Money, Business, Economy, Westminster, George Osborne, Politics, Ed Balls

4.1 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Planes are in the air and the military intervention in Libya has now begun. But how does the operation progress from here? And what actually happens in a war room?

In the second part of this mini series, Ed Balls and George Osborne ask Sir John Sawers about how MI6 gathered intelligence to guide the path forwards. He tells the story of leaving William Hague "aghast" by securing a visa for the Libyan foreign minister, who he then flattered with dinner at one of the service’s secure locations in return for crucial information…

The pair also speak to former deputy national security adviser Hugh Powell about why David Cameron always felt that action was better than inaction, and hear from Cathy Ashton about why the fall of Tripoli was a moment of success for the PM and Nicolas Sarkozy.

However, with Gaddafi still alive and the UN mandate not accounting for regime change, there was still reason to be apprehensive about the “huge challenge ahead”. Sawers and Powell discuss Gaddafi's skill of staying hidden, why MI6 doesn’t actually have a “license to kill”, and their approaches to negotiations with the dictator in his final weeks – including asking Tony Blair for help.

Thanks for listening. In our third episode we take you right behind the scenes of the day Gaddafi was killed, and ask who was responsible for the post-war failures… Can’t wait? Subscribe now to get all three parts of Inside the Room: The Libya Conflict. You will also get access to our debrief episode The Inquiry, as well as early and ad-free access to our regular episodes of EMQs.

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Credits:

Research: Monica Lillis, Ayla Krachai, and Sam Burton

Production support: Tom Jackson

Production: Caillin McDaid and Nasreen Arain

Video Editor: Avi Asher and Oliver Geraghty

Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford and Henrietta Harrison

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Transcript

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0:00.0	So hello and welcome back to Inside the Room, the Libya conflict.
0:27.6	Yeah, in this episode, we have former MI6 chief, John Sawyer, back with us in the studio,
0:34.1	and we are going to be recounting the actual fighting of the Libyan conflict in 2011. Thanks so much for joining us, John. Pleasure. Now, for those who haven't listened to our last episode, I can't believe it's anyone who hasn't listened to our last episode, but if you weren't listening to our last episode, you will know that we were talking about the Arab Spring. It broke out in late 2010 in Tunisia, spread across the Middle East and North Africa. But focus
0:55.4	has turned to Libya and there's a civil war underway. Gaddafi is the long-term leader
1:00.6	and dictator essentially of Libya. He is sending his army along this road along the coast
1:05.9	to the second city of Libya, Benghazi from Tripoli. And there's going to be a massacre. That's the assumption
1:12.3	when the soldiers arrive. Britain and France, with some American help, have decided to intervene.
1:18.4	And where we left the last episode was the French jumping the gun on everyone and the
1:23.6	French jets are in the air. So this is just to take us all back to that moment.
1:28.8	Here's a news medley from the time.
1:39.1	I authorized the armed forces of the United States to begin a limited military action in Libya
1:46.0	in support of an international effort to protect Libyan civilians.
1:51.0	So what we are doing is necessary, it is legal and it is right.
1:57.0	Allied airstrikes have hit at the heart of Moa Madhadi's compound in Tripoli.
2:01.9	Extensive damage was wrought on the four-story building.
2:05.0	A justifiable target, says the coalition, as it contained the means of controlling Libya's forces.
2:10.3	Today, the deputy commander of NATO's Libya operation said he would not apologize for
2:15.2	airstrikes that hit Libyan rebels Thursday.
2:18.4	Rear Admiral Russell Harding told reporters that NATO officials were unaware the rebels were using tanks.
2:23.9	Britain, which continues to be a major force in the NATO air campaign over Libya,
2:28.0	has now moved further than previously in helping the fighters.
2:31.4	No new weapons, but military brains to help the command.
	...

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