Michael Fallon defends UK Libya action after Lord Richards criticism

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has defended the government's decision to take action in Libya after criticism from a former head of the Army.

Michael Fallon said the UK had intervened in Libya in 2011 to prevent a potential massacre.

He said he had not seen the comments from Lord Richards, which feature in a new biography of David Cameron.

Downing Street has said it will not dignify the book, by former Tory donor Lord Ashcroft, with a response.

It has suggested Lord Ashcroft, who was angry at being refused a senior government job after Mr Cameron became prime minister in 2010, was motivated by revenge.

In the latest extracts to be serialised in the Daily Mail, external, Lord Richards, who was chief of the defence staff until 2013, complained about the prime minister's "knee-jerk support for the underdog" and reportedly told Mr Cameron during repeated clashes over foreign policy that "being in the Combined Cadet Force at Eton" did not qualify him to decide the tactics of complex military operations.

"We never really analysed things properly," the general added.

In the book, former Conservative Party chairman Michael Ancram said Libya was now "ungovernable".

The country has struggled to stabilise since the ousting of long-term leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi following the Nato airstrikes, and is at the centre of the current Mediterranean migrant crisis.

Speaking on the BBC's Daily Politics, former Lib Dem business secretary Sir Vince Cable said Lord Richards' comments were "obviously worrying".

Sir Vince said he was "not parting" from his backing for the UK's involvement, adding: "Libya is an appalling mess and almost like Iraq but Britain's involvement was pretty marginal so I am not sure we can be blamed for it."

Taking questions after a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, Mr Fallon told the BBC the government had hoped Libya's future would be "more benign" but said it was working with others to build consensus on a legitimate government.

Lord Ashcroft's book also claims there was anger inside the White House about Mr Cameron's Commons defeat over military intervention in Syria in 2013 which meant the UK did not join US-led airstrikes.

And it quotes former Defence Minister Sir Nicholas Soames saying the Royal Navy had been "stripped down to nothing".

Sir Nicholas told the BBC the navy had taken "an unacceptable hit" to fund new aircraft carriers.

"If you look at what the Royal Navy is being asked to do it's the same as when I was a defence minister," he said.

"On one hand its order book has never been so big but there are now 13 frigates - then we had 49."

However, Sir Nicholas said he did not agree with Lord Richards' comments, adding: "Yes he has a particular knowledge that comes from active service and it's possible with hindsight to take a different view.

"It's unfortunate he should have chosen to make these comments in this way when the country is still engaged in dealing with many of these issues."