Raab ‘not confident’ on how many people eligible to come to the UK remain trapped in Afghanistan

Published

4 years ago

September 1, 2021

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Dominic Raab has said he is “not confident with any precision” about how many people who are entitled to come to the UK remain trapped in Afghanistan.

Facing questions on the UK’s withdrawal by members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the foreign secretary says his best estimate of the number of UK nationals and their family members, Afghans who might qualify for resettlement because they assisted the UK, and other vulnerable people who are yet to get out is in the “low hundreds”.

But Mr Raab was unable to give a more precise number when asked by Labour MP Chris Bryant “whether this is nearer 100 or 400”.

“Any number that we haven’t got out… is too many,” he told MPs on the committee, adding: “I can’t give you a definitive answer.”

And asked to confirm the prime minister’s assertion that the “overwhelming majority of people who worked for us are out”, the foreign secretary continued: “I’m not confident with precision to be able to give you a set number, but I am confident that the prime minister is right – that we’ve got the overwhelming number out.”

Mr Raab also confirmed he will be travelling to the region after the hearing concludes on Wednesday afternoon for talks about the rescue of those left behind in Kabul after the departure of the remaining foreign forces.

The foreign secretary, who faced criticism after it emerged he was on holiday in Crete while the Taliban was advancing on Kabul, refused multiple times to offer further details about when he went abroad.

Describing questions about his trip as a “fishing expedition” and “pretty partisan”, Mr Raab repeated that he “would not have gone away with the benefit of hindsight”.

He added: “I am not going to start adding to, frankly, the fishing expedition beyond the facts that I have articulated and the fulsome statement and having answered questions on this continuously.”

The foreign secretary also could not say how many of his department’s ministers are currently overseas.

He told MPs he did not have “the precise detail” to answer this question, but that there is “a rota system” in place to ensure cover.

“We’re always very careful about signalling travel movements because of the security implications,” he added.

Mr Raab maintained that he has remained fully engaged with the situation in Afghanistan, noting that he had “over 40 meetings or telephone calls where Afghanistan was on the agenda” between mid-March and 30 August – which works out as “broadly one every four days”.

He added that the “central assessment” of the UK government had been that Kabul was “unlikely” to fall this year.

“The central assessment that we were operating to – and it was certainly backed up by the JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee) and the military – is that the most likely, the central proposition, was that given the troop withdrawal by the end of August, you’d see a steady deterioration from that point and it was unlikely Kabul would fall this year,” he said.

The foreign secretary noted that this assessment remained “until late”, but that work to develop an evacuation plan was ongoing from June.

“We started planning in June for the contingency of an evacuation and therefore a full drawdown of the embassy,” he told the committee.

Asked by Conservative MP Bob Seely whether the government was caught out “slightly on the hop” due to an “intelligence failure”, the foreign secretary replied: “We’ve got a very professional way of approaching these things but when they’re wrong… you need to look at how you correct that.”

The foreign secretary also outlined the three categories of people in Afghanistan who are eligible to resettle in the UK as British nationals, those who have shown loyalty to the UK and an “asylum-related” group “based on international law”.

He repeated that the government is “doing everything we can” to get people out of the country, adding that “the proof” of this is that 17,000 people have been transported to the UK “since April”.

Politics

Tory MP Patrick Spencer charged with sexual assaults at Groucho Club

Published

2 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Tory MP Patrick Spencer charged with sexual assaults at Groucho Club

Tory MP Patrick Spencer has been charged with two counts of sexual assault at London’s Groucho Club.

The charges follow two alleged incidents involving two different women at the private members’ club, in Soho, in August 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Follow live politics updates: Your views on Starmer’s migration speech

Mr Spencer – who is the Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich – will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday 16 June.

A Conservative Party spokesman said Mr Spencer, 37, has been suspended by the Tories and had the whip withdrawn.

The Metropolitan Police said he was charged after attending a voluntary interview at a London police station on 13 March this year.

Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: “Following a review of the evidence provided by the Metropolitan Police Service, we have authorised two counts of sexual assault against Patrick Spencer MP.

“The charges follow two alleged incidents involving two separate women at the Groucho Club in central London in August 2023.

“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial.

“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”

Mr Spencer was first elected to Parliament last year with a majority of 4,290.

It is understood he was asked not to attend the parliamentary estate by the Tory chief whip while police enquiries were ongoing.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “The Conservative Party believes in integrity and high standards. We have taken immediate action.

“Patrick Spencer MP has been suspended from the Conservative Party, and the whip withdrawn, with immediate effect.

“The Conservative Party cannot comment further on an ongoing legal case.”

The Groucho Club, in Dean Street, opened in 1985 and became a renowned meeting place for A-list celebrities and others, including actors, comedians and media executives.

The club was named after the comedian and actor Groucho Marx, who reportedly once said he would refuse to join any club that would have him as a member.

It was originally set up as a more relaxed alternative to traditional gentlemen’s clubs, according to the venue’s website, which adds that members should be in the creative industry “and share the club’s maverick spirit”.

Before becoming an MP, Mr Spencer worked in finance for private equity firm IPGL, a company chaired by his father, former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Michael Spencer.

He later took a job at the Centre for Social Justice think thank before becoming a senior adviser at the Department for Education.

He made his maiden speech in the Commons in July last year during a debate on the MPs’ code of conduct relating to second jobs, during which he said the “most important thing to the people across my constituency” was “restoring a sense of moral probity and public spiritedness to our political system”.

Sky News has contacted Mr Spencer for comment.

Politics

Nasdaq-listed GDC plans to buy Bitcoin and TRUMP memecoin for $300M

Published

7 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Nasdaq-listed GDC plans to buy Bitcoin and TRUMP memecoin for 0M

GD Culture Group (GDC), a Nasdaq-listed holding company focused on livestreaming, e-commerce and artificial intelligence-powered digital human technology, plans to raise up to $300 million for a cryptocurrency treasury reserve.

In a May 12 statement, GDC and its subsidiary, AI Catalysis, announced entering into a common stock purchase agreement with a British Virgin Islands limited liability company to sell up to $300 million of its common stock.

The proceeds from the stock sale will be used to fund the firm’s crypto treasury, which will include purchases of Bitcoin (BTC) and the Official Trump (TRUMP) token.

“Under this initiative, and subject to certain limitations, GDC intends to allocate a significant portion of the proceeds from any share sales under the facility to the acquisition, long-term holding, and integration of crypto assets into its core treasury operations,” the company said in the announcement.

GDC described the strategy as a move to align with the broader “decentralization transformation.”

Nasdaq-listed GDC plans to buy Bitcoin and TRUMP memecoin for $300M — *GDC stock price, 1-year chart. Source: Nasdaq*

Founded in 2016, GDC is a micro-cap company with a current $34 million market capitalization, according to Nasdaq data.

GDC’s chairman and CEO, Xiaojian Wang, said the initiative builds on the company’s strengths in digital technologies and positions it for a blockchain-powered industrial shift.

“GDC’s adoption of crypto assets as treasury reserve holdings is a deliberate strategy that reflects both current industry trends and our unique strengths in digital technologies and the livestreaming e-commerce ecosystem,” Wang said.

The stock offering was announced over a month after the firm received a noncompliance warning from Nasdaq related to its stockholders’ equity. The notice indicated that the firm reported stockholders’ equity of only $2,643, well below the minimum requirement of $2.5 million.

The firm was given until May 4 to submit a plan to comply with the listing requirements. If accepted by Nasdaq, the compliance plan will allow up to 180 days from the notification period to comply with the requirements.

The Nevada-based company joins a small but growing group of public firms that are allocating part of their balance sheets to crypto assets.

Trump token dinner planned for top holders

GDC’s announcement coincides with an upcoming high-profile event tied to the Trump token project. The 25 largest holders of TRUMP tokens are set to attend a private dinner at the White House on May 22.

However, the TRUMP memecoin project said in a May 12 X post that it has stopped considering additional purchases for the dinner and that the attendees had been notified to apply for background checks.

According to data provided on the project’s leaderboard, the top 220 wallets held more than 13.7 million tokens as of May 12, worth about $174 million at the time of publication.

White House, Donald Trump, Corruption, Memecoin — *Top 10 TRUMP memecoin holders as of May 12. Source: TRUMP memecoin project*

Some US lawmakers have criticized the dinner. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis reportedly said that the idea of the US president offering exclusive access for people willing to pay “gives [her] pause.”

Crypto regulation experts also fear that the Trump family’s crypto endeavors may trigger more regulatory scrutiny by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, as politically affiliated memecoins introduce a new challenge for crypto legislation.

Magazine: Uni students crypto ‘grooming’ scandal, 67K scammed by fake women: Asia Express

Politics

Man arrested over arson attacks after fire at Sir Keir Starmer’s house

Published

8 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Man arrested over arson attacks after fire at Sir Keir Starmer's house

A 21-year-old man has been arrested over a series of arson attacks, police have said, after a fire at a house owned by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, according to the Metropolitan Police.

He remains in custody.

Emergency services were called to fires at the doors of two homes in north London within 24 hours of each other – one just after 1.35am on Monday in Kentish Town and the other on Sunday in Islington. Both properties are linked to Sir Keir.

Detectives were also checking a vehicle fire last Thursday on the same street as the Kentish Town property to see whether it is connected.

Part of the area was cordoned off as police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) investigators examined the scene.

Neighbours described hearing a loud bang and said police officers were looking for a projectile.

The prime minister is understood to still own the home, which was damaged by fire on Monday, but nobody was hurt. Pictures showed scorching at the entrance to the property.

Sir Keir used to live there before he and his family moved into 10 Downing Street after Labour won last year’s general election. It is believed the property is being rented out.

In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to the prime minister.

In a statement, police said: “As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it. All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I can only say that the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So I can’t comment any further.”

Kemi Badenoch has condemned the suspected arson attacks.

Writing on X, the Conservative leader said: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the prime minister and his family. No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service.

“It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Tuesday: “It’s important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected.

“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”