Foreign secretary facing calls to resign after being ‘too busy’ on holiday to speak with Afghan foreign minister as Taliban closed in on Kabul

Published

3 years ago

August 18, 2021

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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has been criticised for being too busy to speak with Afghanistan’s foreign minister as the country descended into chaos.

Mr Raab has been accused of failing to ask Hanif Atmar for urgent assistance in evacuating Afghan interpreters who had worked for UK military personnel during the 20-year conflict in the country.

The foreign secretary was on holiday when senior officials advised he should speak with Mr Atmar as the Taliban headed for Kabul, the Afghan capital.

It was important the call was made by Mr Raab, rather than a junior minister, the officials had said.

But they were told Mr Raab was unavailable and that Lord Goldsmith, the Foreign Office minister on duty, could speak to Mr Atmar instead.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The foreign secretary was engaged on a range of other calls and this one was delegated to another minister.”

Mr Raab reportedly did not speak with his Afghan counterpart until at least the next day, after the Afghan foreign ministry refused to set up a call with the more junior UK minister.

This meant crucial time was lost before the Taliban took control of Kabul on Sunday, prompting a desperate scramble to evacuate thousands of Britons and the interpreters that is still ongoing.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds accused Mr Raab of a “dereliction of duty” on Wednesday.

He added: “Failing to make a call has put the lives of brave interpreters at risk, after they served so bravely with our military. Utterly shameful.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was said to have been in Somerset as the Taliban marched towards Kabul, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer criticised both him and Mr Raab, saying: “You cannot co-ordinate an international response from the beach.”

Mr Raab also appears to have made a “calculated snub” of fellow Tory MP Tom Tugendhat’s powerful and emotional speech in the Commons on Wednesday.

Sky’s chief political correspondent Jon Craig described Mr Tugendhat’s oratory as “a strong contender for parliamentary speech of the year” during what was a highly-charged and, at times, ill-tempered seven-and-a-half hour debate on the situation in Afghanistan.

Mr Tugendhat, a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, told MPs the past week had seen him, like many veterans, “struggle through anger, grief and rage” as events in Afghanistan unfolded.

Craig said Mr Raab had sat through most of the debate “squirming on the government front bench as he was repeatedly taunted by opposition MPs over being on holiday in Crete on the day Kabul fell”.

“Winding up the debate… he found time to mention the speeches of other distinguished former military officers who spoke during the debate – Tobias Ellwood, Johnny Mercer, Dan Jarvis and Sir Iain Duncan Smith – as is the courtesy and tradition in parliamentary debates.

“The charitable explanation for Mr Raab’s omission of Mr Tugendhat is that he ran out of time.”

Politics

Boris Johnson puts up united front with Rishi Sunak to warn against ‘disaster’ of Labour government

Published

2 hours ago

July 3, 2024

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Boris Johnson puts up united front with Rishi Sunak to warn against 'disaster' of Labour government

Boris Johnson has made his first public appearance in the Conservative election campaign to warn voters against electing a Labour government on 4 July.

The former prime minister told an audience in central London that a potential Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer would “destroy so much of what we have achieved”.

Mr Johnson, who was rumoured to make an appearance at some point in the campaign, spoke before Rishi Sunak at an event designed to rally supporters in the final hours before polling day.

Alluding to their past disagreements as prime minister and chancellor, Mr Johnson said: “Whatever our differences they are trivial to the disaster we may face.”

He said Westminster was about to go “diametrically in the opposite direction” to the progress the country had achieved over COVID and economic growth.

“None of us can sit back as a Labour government prepares to use a sledgehammer majority to destroy so much of what we have achieved, what you have achieved,” he said.

Election latest: ‘I just want to lose,’ says Tory minister

Mr Johnson, who won the largest Conservative majority in 2019 since the years of Margaret Thatcher, repeated the warnings that have been made by the Tories continuously throughout the campaign that Sir Keir was on course for a “supermajority” that could hamper democratic accountability.

“Is it not therefore the height of insanity, if these polls are right, that we are about to give Labour a supermajority which they will use to make us nothing but the punk of Brussels, taking EU law by dictation with no say on how that law is made?” he asked.

He accused Labour of “barely” being able to conceal their agenda of tax rises and of being “so complacent”.

“Poor old Starmer is so terrified of disobeying left wing dogma that he’s reluctant to explain the difference between a man and a woman, and he just he just sits there with his mouth opening and shutting like a stunned mullet,” he went on.

“Do we want this kind of madness? Do we want ever higher taxes? Do we want more wokery imposed on our schools? And yet this is coming now.”

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Mr Johnson’s surprise appearance came after a poll by Survation predicted Labour would win a majority of 318 seats, surpassing the 179 achieved by Sir Tony Blair in 1997.

The pollster said Sir Keir would win 484 seats out of the total of 650, while the Tories would crash to 64 seats – just three more than the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Sunak thanked his predecessor for his support, adding: “Boris was right to say now is the time for all Conservatives to come together to deny Labour that super majority that Keir Starmer craves.

“We have 48 hours to save Britain from the danger of a Labour government.”

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said Mr Johnson’s appearance was an “insult to everyone who made heartbreaking sacrifices during the pandemic”.

“Rishi Sunak has reached a desperate new low, turning to a man who discredited the office of prime minister and lied to the country time after time.

“It is time to boot out this tired and sleaze-ridden Conservative party, and elect Liberal Democrat MPs who will stand up for their communities.”

Politics

Judge signs off on expedited schedule for Consensys suit against SEC

Published

7 hours ago

July 2, 2024

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Judge signs off on expedited schedule for Consensys suit against SEC

While Judge Reed O’Connor granted the SEC an extension to respond to Consensys’ lawsuit, he also approved a timeline for considering the case’s merits proposed by the firm.