Starmer urges PM to award medals to troops involved in Afghanistan evacuation

Published

4 years ago

September 6, 2021

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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged the government to grant military medals to those British troops involved in the evacuation of Afghanistan last month.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Sir Keir told Boris Johnson to accept his party’s proposal to honour the “remarkable” work of those who served in Operation Pitting.

Following Afghanistan’s collapse to Taliban control, the military’s emergency evacuation effort saw 15,000 people brought back to the UK amid chaotic scenes in the country’s capital Kabul.

In a message to those troops involved in Operation Pitting, Sir Keir said: “Your service deserves recognition and honour and I hope the prime minister will accept Labour’s proposal to scrap the 30-day continuous service rule so that medals are awarded for your bravery.”

Speaking earlier in the Commons, the prime minister had paid tribute to the “biggest and fastest emergency evacuation in recent history”.

“The whole House will join me in commending the courage and ingenuity of everyone involved in the Kabul Airlift, one of the most spectacular operations in our country’s post-war military history,” he told MPs.

However, the prime minister admitted that 311 people eligible to come to Britain under a special resettlement scheme for those who worked with the UK in Afghanistan were still in the country.

Of those 311 Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) candidates, Mr Johnson told MPs that 192 had responded to calls from the UK government.

“We will do absolutely everything we can to ensure that those people get the safe passage that they deserve,” he added.

Mr Johnson also told the Commons that up to 20,000 vulnerable Afghans would receive indefinite leave to remain in the UK under a new separate resettlement scheme, under which the government has pledged to take 5,000 refugees in the scheme’s first year.

“We will of course work with the UN and aid agencies to identify those we should help as we have done in respect of those who fled war in Syria,” he said.

“But we will also include Afghans who have contributed to civil society, or who face a particular risk from the Taliban, for example, because of their role in standing up for democracy and human rights, or because of their gender or sexuality or religion.

“All who come to our country through this safe and legal route will receive not a five-year visa but indefinite leave to remain.”

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The prime minister said local councils and devolved administrations would soon receive details on funding for housing and extra school places for those arriving from Afghanistan, while he pledged all councils would “get the support and funding they need”.

Mr Johnson updated MPs on the situation in Afghanistan as the Taliban claimed it was now in charge of the whole of the country after taking Panjshir province, although resistance forces disputed this.

Both the prime minister and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who gave his own statement in the Commons after Mr Johnson, have been heavily criticised for their handling of the withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan and the resulting Taliban takeover.

And the prime minister faced tough questions from among his own Conservative MPs as the Commons sat for the first time since a one-day emergency debate on the Afghanistan interrupted parliament’s summer break.

Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chair of the Commons’ defence committee, called for a “complete overhaul” of the UK’s foreign policy following a “void of leadership in the West and NATO”.

Tory former defence minister Johnny Mercer criticised the government for having “consistently failed” to meet its promises of support for military veterans.

Mr Johnson rejected a suggestion from his predecessor Theresa May that the terror threat to the UK had now increased following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

“We have no direct information as yet of any increase to the threat but I can assure her and the House that every effort will be made to make sure that our counter-terrorist agents have the resources they need to keep us safe,” he said.

Last week, Mr Raab told MPs he was “not confident with any precision” over how many people who are entitled to come to the UK remained left in Afghanistan following the end of the evacuation effort from Kabul.

Saturday will mark the 20th anniversary of the 11 September attacks on the US in 2001, which prompted the West’s long military intervention in Afghanistan.

Politics

New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

Published

6 hours ago

September 8, 2025

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New home secretary to host talks on people smuggling as small-boat crossings hits 30,000

The new home secretary will host talks on how to stop people smuggling in her first major engagement in the role.

Shabana Mahmood will host the so-called Five Eyes security alliance, holding talks between counterparts from the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The security alliance discussion comes after an estimated 1,000 people arrived by small boat in Britain over the course of a single day, with French authorities saying 24 people were rescued while trying to cross the English Channel.

Ms Mahmood said the numbers, which take the yearly total to more than 30,000 in record time, were “utterly unacceptable” and that she expected migrant returns under a deal agreed last month with France to begin “imminently”.

She was promoted into the role Friday during a dramatic reshuffle of Keir Starmer’s top team, which followed in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation over her tax affairs.

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Sir Keir will now be hoping to draw a line under the fallout of his former deputy’s departure, as well as a summer dominated by criticism of his government’s handling of the small boats crisis.

Ms Mahmood said the Five Eyes intelligence sharing pact would “agree new measures to protect our border”. The group will also discuss new measures to tackle child sexual abuse online, as well as the spread of deadly synthetic opioids, the Home Office said.

Ms Mahmood said: “Rebuilding our reputation on the world stage is how we tackle serious organised crime and secure our borders.”

“The Five Eyes might be drawn from different corners of the globe, but we are united by our alliance,” she added.

“As the security threats we all face become more complex and span continents, we are stronger and safer together.”

She will be joined at the talks by US secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem, Canadian public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australian home affairs minister Tony Burke and New Zealand minister Judith Collins.

The Prime Minister has told his new ministers to “go up a gear” in delivering on Labour’s agenda, part of which now involves a toughened immigration policy as he faces pressure in the polls from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

In Ms Mahmood’s first full day in the job, she met the head of Scotland Yard to receive a briefing on the policing operation in response to protests in London.

“Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing,” she said.

“An honour to visit Sir Mark (Rowley) and the Metropolitan Police to see them at work policing protests yesterday.”

Almost 900 people were arrested in central London at a protest against the banning of Palestine Action.

Politics

Labour ‘failing to deliver change that people voted for’ – TUC chief

Published

7 hours ago

September 7, 2025

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Labour 'failing to deliver change that people voted for' - TUC chief

The leader of Britain’s trade unions is to accuse Sir Keir Starmer of failing to deliver the change Labour promised during the election campaign last year.

In his keynote speech at the TUC conference in Brighton, general secretary Paul Nowak will claim that for too many people change still feels like a slogan, not a reality.

After a troubled first year in government that has seen Labour lose support to Reform UK, Mr Nowak will warn the lack of change cannot continue and the government must deliver on jobs, public services and living standards.

And he will claim Rachel Reeves’ budget on 26 November must include windfall taxes on bank profits and gambling companies, a wealth tax on millionaires and the lifting of the two-child benefit cap introduced by George Osborne during the coalition government.

Mr Nowak’s speech comes just days after the unions lost their champion in cabinet, Angela Rayner, prompting fears among delegates in Brighton that the government is poised to weaken its flagship legislation on workers’ rights.

The Conservatives have responded to Ms Rayner’s demise by writing to the new business and trade secretary, Peter Kyle, calling on him to scrap the Employment Rights Bill, claiming it will reduce jobs and mean more red tape and bureaucracy.

But Labour is losing support to Nigel Farage’s party, not the Tories, and will also – potentially – to left-wing parties in future. And in an unusual move, the new left-wing leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, will also address the TUC later.

Labour’s election manifesto last year showed a black and white photo of a shirt-sleeved Sir Keir on the front cover with the single word “Change” in red.

In his attack on the government’s first year in office, Mr Nowak will say: “The Tories took Britain to the brink. That’s why last July, the government was elected on a manifesto that promised change.

“But we have to be honest – for too many people, change still feels like a slogan not a lived reality.

“This can’t continue. Throughout our history, we’ve been at our best when we’ve been ambitious for working people.

“So today, my message to the government is simply this.

“Deliver the manifesto on which you won a huge majority last July. Deliver good jobs, decent public services and better living standards in every corner of the country. Deliver the change people voted for.

“And show working-class communities whose side you are on.”

On the budget, which Labour MPs believe will be crucial to the government’s hopes of recovery in its fortunes, Mr Nowak will declare: “Introduce a windfall tax on record bank profits and gambling companies. And back it with new taxes on wealth.

“If billionaires can afford fleets of private yachts. Day trips into space. Weddings that shut down Venice – they can pay a bit more tax.

“Do what’s best for those who go out to work, day in, day out, and still can’t get by. Deliver the Employment Rights Bill and deliver it in full.

“And make it clear – a Labour government will never stand aside and watch a child’s potential be wasted because of poverty. Lift the two-child cap, and give our kids the future they deserve.”

And on the issue set to dominate this week’s conference, workers’ rights, Mr Nowak will say: “The government has a manifesto promise to make work pay.

“Stronger rights at work are overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum.

“The public knows decent work is the best way to deliver the reset this country needs.

“The best way to improve living standards.

“And the best way to rebuild our communities hit hard by low pay and insecure work.

“So here is our challenge to government.

“Deliver that Employment Rights Bill in full and deliver the change you promised at the election.”

But the Tories’ shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith, in a letter to Mr Kyle, claims the bill will be deeply damaging to economic growth and reduce living standards.

“Rather than proceed at this time with a measure which on the government’s own impact assessment will reduce employment and growth, now is the time to put the national interest first,” he wrote.

“Any credible ‘reset’ of this government requires that this bill be shelved and the government look afresh at measures to promote the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy.”