DAVID Cameron is preparing to send 1,000 ground troops into Libya’s capital without parliament’s approval.

Senior members of the Foreign Affairs Committee were surprised to learn that the UK will provide the troops as part of a 6,000-strong force being sent to Tripoli to act as security for the new Libyan unity government, and to train up the country’s army. The Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, is expected to announce the deployment at a European conference this week.

The committee has also been told that the new Prime Minister designate and head of the presidency council, Fayez al-Sarraj, will likely ask the UK to launch airstrikes against Daesh strongholds in the country.

The committee first heard of the plan when visiting Egypt and Tunisia last week as part of their inquiry into what went wrong with the UK’s last intervention into Libya.

Chairman Crispin Blunt has written to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond asking for more detail and demanding he make a statement in the House of Commons before the Defence Secretary agrees to send the troops.

Blunt wrote: “In the course of our meetings and discussions in North Africa, we also heard that the UK plans to contribute 1,000 ground troops to a 6,000-strong international force which will be deployed to Libya in the near future. We heard that this force will have two objectives: first, it will train the Libyan Army; secondly, it will provide security for the Government of National Accord in Tripoli."

Blunt then states: “The pre-emptive deployment of UK military forces is now a matter for the House of Commons. I therefore request that you make a statement to the House on the state of the plan for any deployment of UK military forces in Libya before the Defence Secretary agrees the UK component of any international force and explain how this deployment is consistent with our policy objectives.”

Stephen Gethins, the SNP MP who sits on the committee and who was in North Africa last week, warned that “disaster” was unfolding in Libya.

He said: “UK policy has been nothing short of disastrous in Libya. First of all we undertook military action with little in the way of long-term planning for the country. That saw us spend 13 times more bombing the country than on reconstruction efforts in the four years after that. It has left Libya as a failed state with the people of the country paying a heavy price.

“Now we understand the UK intends to send 1,000 ground troops to Libya. It is imperative that the UK Government comes to Parliament to seek approval for any proposed military action. A disaster is unfolding in Libya, not least due to UK actions. Its people can ill afford any more mistakes to be made there. It seems we are failing to learn the mistakes of the past of committing to military action without a long-term strategy.”

Over the weekend, a Libyan Government of National Accord was formally recognised by the US, EU and UN. One of the first jobs of that administration is to establish an office in Tripoli, a move likely to meet resistance from the Islamist General National Congress based there.

The congress believes it, rather than the Western-backed Government of National Accord has real legitimacy. It will be supported by hardline militias, such as the Samood Front, who are expected to target ministers in the new government. Daesh and other hardline militias have flourished in the country in the military and political vacuum left in Libya after the fall of Gadaffi in 2011.

A Government spokesman said: “What members of the Foreign Affairs Committee heard on their recent visit is wrong on a number of counts. There are no plans to extend airstrikes to Libya nor are there plans to send British troops to provide security on the ground in Libya. It is therefore also wrong to suggest the Defence Secretary will agree any UK contribution this week.”