Did Fullbrook Illegally Lobby Libya Militia Before Joining 10 Downing Street?
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Roshan Amiri
- . October 17, 2022
- . Update: October 17, 2022 8:35 pm
It is getting scarier by the day as 10 Downing Street is getting sucked into what it is being told and everything it believes. In a shocking revelation, the Chief of Staff has gone too far as he lobbied for a candidate who claimed to be the legitimate PM of Libya but who actually isn’t.
Mark Fullbrook had organized meetings between Nadhim Zahawi, Fathi Bashagha and Kwasi Kwarteng where Bashagha fooled everyone in believing he was the legitimate successor and therefore could influence the UK foreign policy.
The aim was to influence decision making and ensure the UK Foreign Policy would diverge from the US and UN held stance about the legitimacy of the government and instead accept the stance being put forth by Fathi Bashagha who had failed miserably in a coup attempt on Tripoli this year.
The Labour Party has claimed that his position now in the office does not remain tenable even though Mr. Fullbrook had undertaken the paid lobbying assignment while he was working as chief executive of Fullbrook Strategies. The latter had arranged for Bashagha to come to London in June and arranged meetings for him with the then business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the education secretary at the time, Nadhim Zahawi.
Read | Greece And Egypt Oppose Maritime Deals Between Turkey and Libya
The meeting did go through and later, there was a rather and rare off-evidence session held by the foreign affairs select committee a via satellite link with Bashagha. This seemed to have given Bashagha a chance to lobby for himself at a time when there was no keen interest by the UK to look into Libya.
It was well timed by him; he had expected this to set a foreground for his selection into a position of power. But before coming to London, Bashagha’s entry into Tripoli was seen as a short-lived victory as he was forced to hastily retreat when the militia backing, he sought failed to materialize.
Libya is broadly divided between two sides: one based in Tripoli, dependent on Turkish support and led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, and the other based in the east and reliant on the support of Russia and the United Arab Emirates. As of now Fullbrook has defended his position saying he was doing legitimate work.
However, in a joint letter to Liz Truss, Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, and the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, have warned the prime minister that Fullbrook’s “continued presence poses not just a potential security risk but an ongoing threat to the credibility and prospects of UK diplomacy and ethical standards in government”. There is now “no place in No. 10” for Fullbrook, they said.
