UK’s Afghanistan exit branded a ‘humiliation’ by senior Tory MP – as final military jet returns home
The UK’s evacuation from Afghanistan has been branded a “humiliation” by a senior Tory MP and ex-soldier, who told Sky News there were a “litany of concerns” in the government’s handling of it that need to be addressed.
Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the Defence Select Committee, said the Foreign Office no longer had the capability to deal with challenges like the ones faced over the last two weeks.
Speaking hours before the last UK military plane arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, Mr Ellwood said: “There’s been a litany of concerns that absolutely need to be addressed and errors that have been made as well.
“We need to recognise that this is a wake-up call, that the world is getting more dangerous, not less.”
While the UK’s 20-year military presence in Afghanistan officially ended on Saturday, there were some troops on board the plane that landed at Brize Norton on Sunday night.
Mr Ellwood said that British soldiers had “performed valiantly” over the last two decades, “but were let down by their political masters”.
“As soon as we’ve departed, there have been terrorist attacks,” he said. “And there will be further terrorist attacks because we’ve departed.”
Thursday’s suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 US service members and scores of Afghans. The US has launched retaliatory strikes against ISIS-K targets – including a vehicle said to be carrying explosives on Sunday.
Mr Ellwood continued: “After 20 years, we are now out, and we have very little to show for it.
“We lacked the strategy, the statecraft, the patience to see it through. This manner of our departure is a humiliation.”
The last planeload of soldiers has arrived in the UK from Afghanistan
Tom Tugendhat, another Conservative former soldier, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has already indicated his intention to hold an inquiry.
He tweeted last week: “How [the Foreign Office] handled this crisis will be the subject of a coming [Foreign Affairs Committee] inquiry. The evidence is already coming in.”
Mr Ellwood spoke as Labour wrote to Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, raising concerns about allegations that thousands of emails relating to Afghan refugees went unopened by officials dealing with the operation.
Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said her office was tracking cases relating to 5,000 people including “British nationals, high profile public figures, people with serious disabilities and children separated from their families”.
The government previously estimated up to 1,100 Afghans eligible to come to the UK were likely to be left behind.
“It just beggars belief that ministers have presided over such utter chaos when they had eighteen months to plan, with appalling consequences for many, many people who helped us over two decades,” Ms Nandy told Sky News.
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‘There will be many people who won’t get out’
The Foreign Office has not directly denied that the emails were not opened, but said other phone lines and inboxes were used to process applications.
A spokesperson said “we deployed a 24/7 cross-Whitehall team based in our crisis hub to triage incoming emails and calls from British Nationals, ARAP applicants, and other vulnerable Afghans”.
The accusations come after Mr Raab was criticised for remaining abroad on holiday as Kabul fell to the Taliban earlier this month.
Thousands of refugees have been evacuated from Afghanistan
Government officials have stressed they will now be ramping up efforts to help people trapped in Afghanistan escape to third countries.
Former senior army commander General Sir Richard Barrons said the UK now needed to start speaking to the Taliban and other countries in the region to get people out.
“We have broken faith with them if we now don’t move – as the prime minister said – heaven and earth to get them out,” Sir Richard told Sky News.
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“We have made a commitment, and we now need, in discussion with the Taliban and Pakistan and other neighbours, to get them out.”
Boris Johnson has said that any recognition of the Taliban in Afghanistan will only come if the new regime guarantees safe passage for all those wanting to leave.
Despite the ongoing market meltdown on US trade tariffs, executives at major cryptocurrency firms Messari and Sygnum are bullish on institutional Bitcoin adoption later in 2025.
Speaking on a panel at Paris Blockchain Week on April 8, Messari CEO Eric Turner and Sygnum Bank co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said they expect a significant shift in the banking sector’s involvement with crypto in the second half of the year.
According to the executives, the global banking push into Bitcoin (BTC) services has great potential to happen in the second half of 2025 as regulators embrace crypto, including stablecoins and crypto services by banks.
“I think we’re probably looking at a muted Q2, but I’m really excited for Q3 and Q4,” Messari’s Turner said during the panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, forecasting “really interesting” things coming to the crypto market in 2025.
Crypto adoption is not just about Trump
While some investors focus on the pro-crypto stance of US President Donald Trump, Turner emphasized that broader regulatory momentum is what matters most.
“When you look at the potential of having market structure regulation in the US, stablecoin regulation, and just the fact that across the board, not just President Trump himself, but the SEC and all these regulatory industries are really embracing crypto,” Turner said.
Paris Blockchain Week’s panel with Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, Bancor co-founder Eyal Hertzog, Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger, Messari CEO Eric Turner, AWS fintech leader Alex Matsuo and Near chief operating officer Chris Donovan. Source: Cointelegraph
Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said international banks with US branches are also poised to enter the market once the legal landscape becomes clearer:
“I think it’s a matter of fact that US banks are preparing to be able to offer crypto custody and at least crypto spot trading services anytime soon.”
“I think by then I would agree with you, Eric,” he continued, projecting a continued phase of market uncertainty until the US establishes a clear regulatory framework.
Related: Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B
Banks are no longer afraid of Bitcoin regulators
With the establishment of clear crypto rules for banks in the US, there will be a rush for crypto services by large international banks that are incorporated outside of the US but have a US-based presence, Eichenberger said.
“Some of them may have had their strategic plans in their cupboard to offer crypto-related services, but have been afraid that at some point they will be gone after by any of the US regulatory authorities,” he said, adding:
“Now I think there’s no one to be afraid of anymore in terms of regulatory authorities worldwide. So I think many of the large international banks will launch this year.”
Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again
Global trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures may come to an end with a potential deal with China as investors remain concerned about escalation from both sides.
Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal import tariffs sent shockwaves through global equity and crypto markets. The measures include a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, effective April 5, with higher levies — such as a 34% tariff on Chinese imports — set to begin on April 9.
However, the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.
“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal,” Pal wrote in an April 8 X post, adding:
“That is the big prize and both China and the US understand it and need it. Everything else is negotiation posturing. China needs a weaker $ and the US needs tariffs.”
Source: Raoul Pal
“Also, the US is trying to shut down China tariff arbitrage using other channels such as Mexico or Vietnam,” Pal said.
Related: Bitcoin price can hit $250K in 2025 if Fed shifts to QE: Arthur Hayes
China retaliates with new tariffs
Considering China’s latest retaliatory measures, a resolution remains unlikely in the short term.
In response to US tariffs, China imposed a 34% tariff on all US imports effective April 10, media outlet Xinhua News reported on April 4. China’s foreign ministry also vowed to “fight till the end” against Trump’s tariffs, which it called “bullying” by the world’s largest economy.
China overtakes the US in global trade. Source: Econovis
China overtook the US in 2012 to become the world’s largest trading nation by the total value of exports and imports, surpassing $4 trillion in goods trade that year, according to The Guardian.
Crypto markets watch trade outcome closely
As the trade dispute continues to evolve, analysts say a potential agreement between the two global superpowers could serve as a key catalyst for recovery in digital asset markets.
Crypto markets have a 70% chance to bottom by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.
Related: Crypto market bottom likely by June despite tariff fears: Finance Redefined
Investor appetite for risk assets such as Bitcoin will depend on the global tariff responses from other countries, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen.
“We have reached somewhat of a local bottom in regard to tariffs and the impact on prices,” the analyst said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:
“Trump came out guns blazing, and we’ve mostly seen the worst from the US side, so we’ll see if other countries are willing to drop some of the tariffs because it’s very likely the US will do the same.”
Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29
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