Ed Miliband accused of blaming David Cameron for migrant deaths

A row is brewing this morning over Ed Miliband’s decision to use a foreign policy speech to place some of the blame for migrants deaths in the Mediterranean on David Cameron’s shoulders.

The Conservatives say they are outraged and see it as a “shameful” bid to make political capital out of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. Liz Truss, the environment secretary, has been doing the media rounds this morning demanding the Labour leader take back his remarks.

Mr Miliband is expected to say use his Chatham house speech at 11 am today to say that the deaths of hundreds of refugees crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa are “in part a direct result” of the Prime Minister’s intervention in Libya.

“The tragedy is that this could have been anticipated,” he is due to say, the day after Mr Cameron attended an emergency EU summit to deal with the escalating situation.

“Since the action, the failure of post-conflict planning has become obvious. David Cameron was wrong to assume that Libya’s political culture and institutions could be left to evolve and transform on their own.

“It should have been avoided. 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.”

Douglas Alexander, Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary, said the Conservatives are manufacturing a row and said David Cameron had “abjectly failed” to engage in effective post-conflict planning.