Britain working to keep airport open in Afghanistan after troops withdraw

Published

4 years ago

August 24, 2021

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Britain is actively working to keep an airport open in Afghanistan after the final withdrawal of troops, Sky News understands.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said after Tuesday’s G7 summit that the number one priority for the West in coming months was to ensure safe passage for people who want to leave Afghanistan after 31 August when Western forces withdraw.

More specifics about this effort were revealed when the foreign secretary briefed MPs.

Dominic Raab told MPs that the government wants to see a functioning airport after the troops’ departure, appearing to suggest commercial flights might be able take people out of the country in future.

“If we want to do this in a more managed way and really take the steep angle off the cliff edge, what we really could do with is the Taliban being able to run a functional airport in Kabul,” he said.

He added that neighbouring countries could help uphold international aviation standards at the airport to keep it open.

“I’m sure there will be various neighbouring countries that will want to see if they can help them keep that airport open or indeed whether they want to get in members of the previous government, or the officials, to do that job.”

This would appear to be part of an attempt to ensure a more enlightened Taliban, rather than the return of what Mr Raab called “Taliban 1.0” – the type of regime that ran Afghanistan until 2001.

Mr Raab said: “We’ll use all levers we can to try and secure a transitional government whereby the Taliban takes in a broader range of Afghan political figures and leaders, and then also try make sure they can live up to better standards of human rights and wider government standards than what we saw with – if I can put it that way – Taliban 1.0.”

The British government is also looking with allies to create land routes within Afghanistan to help people reach neighbouring countries from where they can fly to the UK, something the Taliban is already making clear it opposes.

Mr Raab said: “I think the important ask of (the Taliban) now, in the same way as I mentioned ‘do they really want humanitarian aid given the potential collapse?’ Are they going to keep this going? Are they going to continue to allow nationals, (people with the right to reside in Britain), special cases, to leave?

“And I think that when we think of the range of levers that we’ve got, we can use these levers to say to the Taliban, we expect – and they are already committing to allow a safe passage out.”

Western countries believe they have strong economic leverage in the coming months.

Mr Raab said they believe that the Taliban’s single biggest priority is to avoid economic collapse after Western powers leave the country. This might give the West some influence in Afghanistan, as it means the Taliban could be seeking access to finance, access to development spending and fear the impact of sanctions.

“We will use every lever at our disposal to achieve that, from access to the international finance system, to the conditions we set around being willing to provide ODA (development assistance) through to sanctions,” he said.

Mr Raab said they hoped to gain assistance from other key countries not in the G7 such as China, India and Pakistan.

However this remark acknowledges a coordinated response from the international community could prove challenging if countries like Russia and China seek advantage by deciding to deal bilaterally with the new Afghan government.

The ideal way of dealing with the Taliban government in future would mirror that used in the Balkans, Mr Raab said.

He said he wanted an “international contact group” which the Western powers could use to liaise with the new Taliban government, based on the model from the former Yugoslavia.

He said they are “likely to have more influence on (the) Taliban with a broader group of countries who can really try and moderate what is happening on (the) ground.”

Mr Raab told MPs that almost all “mono national Britons (Britons without dual nationality)” have been evacuated, but he refused to be drawn on the numbers who would be left behind.

He stressed that the last few days would make “all the difference” and insisted the UK was still working on routes out of the country using airports both inside and outside Afghanistan.

“We have probably now got through – not all – but the lion’s share – the vast majority of the documented UK mono-nationals.”

After British citizens have been evacuated, Mr Raab said the next priorities for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) would be female human rights activists, female judges, members of the LBGT+ community and the children of British passport holders where the lack of documentation for children whose parents are eligible to go to the UK is keeping the whole family in country.

Mr Raab told the 100 MPs on the call that there had been 11,000 people evacuated from April to August.

Politics

UK-US trade deal ‘isn’t worth the paper it’s written on’, says Nobel Prize-winning economist

Published

7 hours ago

May 11, 2025

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UK-US trade deal 'isn't worth the paper it's written on', Nobel Prize-winning economist tells Sky News

A Nobel Prize-winning economist has told Sky News the recently announced UK-US trade deal “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”.

Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump announced the “first-of-a-kind” agreement with a live, televised phone call earlier this week – and the British prime minister hailed the deal as one that will save thousands of jobs in the UK.

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But leading economist Joseph Stiglitz has told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he “wouldn’t view [the deal] as a great achievement”.

“Any agreement with Trump isn’t worth the paper it’s written on,” he said, pointing out the president signed deals with Canada and Mexico during his first term – only to slap them with hiked tariffs within days of returning to the White House this year.

“I would view it as playing into Trump’s strategy,” he said.

“His strategy is divide and conquer, go after the weakest countries, and sort of put the stronger countries in the back.”

The scramble to secure a UK-US trade deal was sparked by Mr Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement last month, which saw the president hike import tariffs for multiple countries and subsequently send global markets crashing.

China initially faced tariffs of 34% and when Beijing hit the US with retaliatory rates, a trade war quickly ensued.

The US and China now impose tariffs of above 100% on each other, but representatives from the two countries have this weekend met for high-stakes negotiations.

With its response to Mr Trump, Beijing “made it very clear that the US is very dependent on China in so many ways,” Mr Stiglitz said.

“So they’re beginning now to negotiate, but from a position of strength.”

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Asked if he thinks the UK should have focused on its relationship with the EU instead of the US, Mr Stiglitz said: “Very much so.

“My view is that if you had worked with the EU to get a good deal, you could have done better than what you’ve done.

“If it turns out, in the end, when you work it all out, Trump is unhappy, he’ll run. If he’s unhappy, I pray for you.”

Among the terms in the UK-US trade deal are reduced tariffs on British car and steel exports to the US, while the UK has agreed to remove a tariff on ethanol, used to produce beer.

The agreement also opens a new agricultural exchange, with US farmers being given access to the UK for the first time – though UK food standards on imports have not been weakened.

Politics

Ex-UFC champ Conor McGregor touts Irish Bitcoin reserve in presidential bid

Published

14 hours ago

May 11, 2025

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Ex-UFC champ Conor McGregor touts Irish Bitcoin reserve in presidential bid

UFC fighter turned Irish political candidate Conor McGregor has endorsed the idea of building a Bitcoin reserve in his country to give more “power back to the people.”

“Crypto in it’s origin was founded to give power back to the people. An Irish Bitcoin strategic reserve will give power to the people’s money,” McGregor wrote to X on May 9.

The former UFC champion said he would discuss his plans in more detail in an upcoming X spaces, prompting responses from some of the Bitcoin industry’s most prominent leaders.

“We need the greatest minds for this BTC Reserve. Message me and lets chat on my space,” McGregor said in response to Bitcoiner and host of The Pomp Podcast, Anthony Pompliano.

One of US President Donald Trump’s crypto advisors, David Bailey, also reached out, to which McGregor responded: “David message me, let’s discuss your ideas!”

McGregor announced his independent candidacy for the Irish presidency in late March 2025, centering his campaign on anti-immigration policies and combating crime.

Ireland’s next presidential election must take place by Nov. 11, 2025, as the term of the current President, Michael D. Higgins, is set to end the day after.

Establishing a Bitcoin reserve — let alone one coming from a minor, independent party — would be no easy feat.

Despite recent regulatory progress, the US, El Salvador and Bhutan are among the few countries that have established a Bitcoin reserve to date.

McGregor’s political visibility was recently boosted by a trip to the White House, where he met Trump and received his support.

However, McGregor is facing intense scrutiny in Ireland, having recently been found guilty of sexual assault in a civil case — a conviction which he has since appealed — while also previously being investigated for hate speech crimes.

McGregor’s last crypto endeavor failed

McGregor’s push for a Bitcoin reserve comes a little over a month after the McGregor-backed REAL project failed to attract sufficient funding in its token launch pre-sale, prompting a full refund to all token bidders.

The team behind the project, Real World Gaming, only raised $392,315 over a 28-hour presale on April 5 and 6, less than half of the $1 million minimum requirement that it initially set.

Magazine: Adam Back says Bitcoin price cycle ’10x bigger’ but will still decisively break above $100K

Politics

Ukraine presses Russia for 30-day ceasefire as Starmer among leaders in Kyiv for talks

Published

1 day ago

May 10, 2025

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Ukraine presses Russia for 30-day ceasefire as Starmer among leaders in Kyiv for talks

Sir Keir Starmer has joined other European leaders in Kyiv to press Russia to agree an unconditional 30-day ceasefire.

The prime minister is attending the summit alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, recently-elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

It is the first time the leaders of the four countries have travelled to Ukraine at the same time – arriving in the capital by train – with their meeting hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It comes after Donald Trump called for “ideally” a 30-day ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow, and warned that if any pause in the fighting is not respected “the US and its partners will impose further sanctions”.

Security and defence analyst Michael Clarke told Sky News presenter Samantha Washington the European leaders are “rowing in behind” the US president, who referred to his “European allies” for the first time in this context in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“So this meeting is all about heaping pressure on the Russians to go along with the American proposal,” he said.

“It’s the closest the Europeans and the US have been for about three months on this issue.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine and its allies are ready for a “full, unconditional ceasefire” for at least 30 days starting on Monday.

Ahead of the meeting on Saturday, Sir Keir, Mr Macron, Mr Tusk and Mr Merz released a joint statement.

European leaders show solidarity – but await Trump’s backing

Dominic Waghorn

International affairs editor

@DominicWaghorn

The hope is Russia’s unilateral ceasefire, such as it’s worth, can be extended for a month to give peace a chance.

But ahead of the meeting, Ukrainian sources told Sky News they are still waiting for President Donald Trump to put his full weight behind the idea.

The US leader has said a 30-day ceasefire would be ideal, but has shown no willingness yet for putting pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin to agree.

The Russians say a ceasefire can only come after a peace deal can be reached.

European allies are still putting their hopes in a negotiated end to the war despite Moscow’s intransigence and President Trump’s apparent one-sided approach favouring Russia.

Ukrainians would prefer to be given enough economic and military support to secure victory.

But in over three years, despite its massive economic superiority to Russia and its access to more advanced military technology, Europe has not found the political will to give Kyiv the means to win.

Until they do, Vladimir Putin may decide it is still worth pursuing this war despite its massive cost in men and materiel on both sides.

“We reiterate our backing for President Trump’s calls for a peace deal and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to secure an enduring peace,” they said.

“Alongside the US, we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace.”

The leaders said they were “ready to support peace talks as soon as possible”.

But they warned that they would continue to “ratchet up pressure on Russia’s war machine” until Moscow agrees to a lasting ceasefire.

“We are clear the bloodshed must end, Russia must stop its illegal invasion, and Ukraine must be able to prosper as a safe, secure and sovereign nation within its internationally recognised borders for generations to come,” their statement added.

“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine.”

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The European leaders are set to visit the Maidan, a central square in Ukraine’s capital where flags represent those who died in the war.

They are also expected to host a virtual meeting for other leaders in the “coalition of the willing” to update them on progress towards a peacekeeping force.

Military officers from around 30 countries have been involved in drawing up plans for a coalition, which would provide a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire being agreed between Russia and Ukraine.