Labour leader Ed Miliband is to accuse David Cameron of presiding over the “biggest loss of influence for our country in a generation”.
Mr Miliband will use a foreign policy speech to criticise the PM’s approach over Libya, Ukraine and the EU reports |BBC.
He will promise to “speak up for Britain’s values” on the world stage if he wins the election.
The Conservatives say they will “ensure Britain is a major player on the world stage”.
The Tory manifesto promises to “maintain Britain’s strong global role and our capacity to project British power and values.
Labour supported military intervention in Libya in 2011. But Mr Miliband will say the deaths of an estimated 800 people when their boats sank off the Libyan coast on Sunday were “in part a direct result of the failure of post-conflict planning”.
He will say: “The tragedy is that this could have been anticipated. 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.”
His comments come after David Cameron pledged military assets to boost search and rescue efforts in the Mediterranean after an emergency EU summit.