Foreign Office ‘too slow’ to react

The Foreign Office is too slow to make decisions when dealing with overseas crises, a report will say tomorrow. A review into how the Government helps Britons caught in natural disaster and conflict zones will criticise officials for being too slow to move to a "crisis footing".

The review was ordered by David Cameron, the Prime Minister, in February after he said he was "extremely sorry" for the mismanagement of the evacuation of British nationals from Libyan oilfields as rebels attempted to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi. One of the planes eventually chartered by the Government broke down for 10 hours at Gatwick airport.

A senior Foreign Office source said staff felt "over-loaded" and were reluctant to be transferred into a crisis room set up to deal with phone calls from the public and plan evacuations.