David Cameron accused of 'doing an Iraq' in Libya as general and White House official condemn 'incompetent' PM's actions

A source at the White House claims they were 'f****ed over' on Libya and Syria

David Cameron’s actions over Libya have been condemned by a former Tory chairman as “doing an Iraq” while his decisions on both Syria and Libya left the White House feeling “f****ed over”, according to revelations made in a new book.

Former Tory chairman Michael Ancram made the comparison between Mr Cameron’s actions in Libya and Tony Blair’s in Iraq, in a new unofficial biography of the Prime Minister entitled ‘Call Me Dave’ and written by former Tory donor Lord Ashcroft. The book is being serialised in the Daily Mail, where the claims have been published.

Mr Ancram tells the authors - Lord Ashcroft and journalist Isabel Oakeshott - that Mr Cameron’s decisions over Libya have left the country “ungovernable… with vast amounts of weapons from Gaddafi’s arsenal moved south of the border, arming Boko Haram.”

A senior American government insider allegedly said the White House felt “f****ed over” by Mr Cameron on both Libya and Syria, while General Sir David Richards allegedly told the Prime Minister that being in the Combined Cadet Force at Eton did not make him qualified enough to make decisions over complex military operations and the tactics employed in them.

One White House insider is quoted as saying: "It was one of those astonishing displays of incompetence that sort of leaves you wondering about how, you know, have we all got this far?"

The revelation of Mr Cameron’s apparently poor handling of Syria and Libya follows Lord Ashcroft’s extraordinary allegations that the Prime Minister reportedly “inserted a private part of his anatomy” into the mouth of a dead pig and that he smoked cannabis while studying at Oxford University.

The Prime Minister's spokeswoman said: “I’m not intending to dignify this book by offering any comment or any PM reaction to it," while privately the Prime Minister is understood to have told friends the claims are “utter nonsense”. “The author has set out his reasons for writing it,” the spokeswoman added.

In an unauthorised biography of the Prime Minister entitled ‘Call Me Dave’ and serialised in the Daily Mail it is alleged that an anonymous MP knew of a photograph of the incident with the pig’s head, which is claimed to have taken place during a notorious Piers Gaveston Society event although the anonymous MP adds that it could have been a case of mistaken identity and that he had not seen any evidence himself.

The book has been written by ex-Conservative party treasurer Lord Ashcroft, who has donated millions to the party in the past.

It is also alleged that Mr Cameron knew in 2009 of Lord Ashcroft’s “non dom” status – a year earlier than the Prime Minister had previously said to have known. The revelation that Lord Ashcroft did not pay UK tax on his overseas earnings was made in March 2010. At the time the Prime Minister said he had only known of the situation for a month.

The Prime Minister and the Tory peer fell out after the general election when Lord Ashcroft failed to be given a top position in the Coalition government in 2010, though he claims the work is “not about settling scores”.

The book has been co-written by journalist Isabel Oakeshott, who also denied the book was written out of revenge. She told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “If this was just a revenge job, Lord Ashcroft and I could have published it ahead of the election.”