David Cameron lacked “the balls” to take the military action in Syria that could have prevented the rise of Islamic State, a former head of the armed forces has said.



In a scathing analysis of the UK prime minister’s approach, Gen Lord Richards of Herstmonceux said Cameron’s approach seemed “more about the Notting Hill liberal agenda rather than statecraft”.

Lord Richards reportedly told author Sir Anthony Seldon that the prime minister had in 2012 rejected a “coherent military strategy” to take on the regime of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, which would in his view have seen the Islamic extremists “squeezed out of existence”.

The comments are detailed in Seldon’s biography of Cameron – titled Cameron at 10: the Inside Story 2010-2015 – which is being serialised in the Mail on Sunday.

Lord Richards, who was chief of the defence staff from October 2010 to July 2013, is quoted as saying: “If they had the balls they would have gone through with it ... if they’d done what I’d argued, they wouldn’t be where they are with Isis.

“In Ukraine, as in Syria and Libya, there is a clear lack of strategy and statecraft. The problem is the inability to think things through. Too often it seems to be more about the Notting Hill liberal agenda rather than statecraft.”

The House of Commons voted against military action in Syria in 2013 and parliamentary authorisation has so far only been given to UK airstrikes against Isis in neighbouring Iraq.



But Cameron and the defence secretary, Michael Fallon, made clear they were considering extending the military air campaign to Syria in the wake of the Tunisian beach massacre on 26 June, which claimed 30 British victims among the 38 dead.

The biography details the prime minister’s apparent frustration with the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, in the run-up to the general election. After Johnson listed in print all the Old Etonians who had gone on to become prime minister, Cameron reportedly sent him a text: “The next PM will be Miliband if you don’t f****** shut up.”

The book goes into detail about the relationship between Cameron and the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, describing it as one of the most “enduringly close” there has been between a prime minister and a chancellor.

Seldon describes Osborne’s doubts about the promise of a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, Cameron and Osborne’s fury at former health secretary Andrew Lansley’s “cock-up” of NHS reforms, and the pair’s disagreements with Theresa May over immigration controls.

The extract of the biography published in the Mail on Sunday describes Cameron’s activities on election day, saying he sat down with his speechwriter Clare Foges and drafted speeches for every possible outcome except a Conservative majority.

According to Seldon, a speech written for the event of a Labour win read: “It is clear that we have not won and that I will have to go. I will be seeing the Queen later this morning. I hope they will say I did my duty. Being the prime minister of this country is the best job that one can possibly have. I wish Ed and Justine every success in doing it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve.”



