Boris Johnson has ruled out a “combat solution” to the growing crisis in Afghanistan saying it “is not one that we would be pursuing right now.”
He said the UK will use its other methods, such as “our diplomatic, our political, our overseas development aid budget” to try to ensure Afghanistan does not again become a hub for international terrorism.
The Prime Minister also said efforts would be made to help Afghans who helped the UK in the last two decades to come back along with the “vast bulk” of UK embassy officials.
It comes as a number of Western countries, including the US, Denmark, Norway, France and Germany, are scrambling to bring their citizens home.
Washington is rushing 3,000 fresh troops to Kabul Airport to help with a partial evacuation of the US Embassy and Norway, Denmark and Switzerland will evacuate their embassies. France has repeatedly called for its citizens in the country to return to France.
Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling UK politics coverage. Stay tuned as the situation in Afghanistan worsens and British troops are sent in to get citizens out.
US and UK Afghanistan troop deployment ‘sign of failure,’ says Tory MP
Sending troops into Afghanistan “to keep the door open as you leave is a sure sign of failure”, a Tory MP, who is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has said.
The UK announced on Thursday it would deploy 600 troops on a short-term basis, while the US has vowed to send 3,000 of its own to Afghanistan.
Retweeting news of the American deployment, Conservative Tom Tugendhat said: “A hasty exit is not a sign of success. Needing reinforcements to keep the door open as you leave is a sure sign of failure.”
Mr Tugendhat, who has been vocal critic of the troop withdrawal, spoke of his own time serving with the armed forces in Afghanistan, and said “the decision to withdraw is like a rug pulled from under the feet of our partners”.
Announcing the troop deployment, defence secretary Ben Wallace said last night: “I have authorised the deployment of additional military personnel to support the diplomatic presence in Kabul, assist British nationals to leave the country and support the relocation of former Afghan staff who risked their lives serving alongside us.
“The security of British nationals, British military personnel and former Afghan staff is our first priority. We must do everything we can to ensure their safety.”
In a lengthy thread on Twitter, Mr Tugendhat explained why he was “taking the news from Afghanistan badly”.
Patel to ‘take on security minister role permanently’
Priti Patel will take on the security minister’s responsibilities permanently following James Brokenshire’s departure from the role last month, according to reports first published in The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
Tory MP Mr Brokenshire announced his resignation on 7 July, telling Boris Johnson that his recovery from lung cancer treatment was “taking longer than anticipated” following a resurgence of the illness he was first diagnosed with two years ago.
On Friday, it was reported that the home secretary would take over his vacated brief permanently after covering the role for more than a month.
It follows Labour’s claim the arrest of a British man in Berlin on suspicion of spying for Russia earlier this week raised “questions” about the PM’s failure to fill the post.
Shadow security minister Conor McGinn had said it “beggars belief” that the role had yet to be filled five weeks on, and criticised the moved as “just the latest security lapse from a prime minister and government that can’t be trusted with national security”.
The Home Office said on Wednesday that Patel is ‘responsible for all areas of Home Office business, including those related to national security’
” height=”726″ width=”982″ srcset=”https://static.independent.co.uk/2021/08/12/20/POLITICS20Birmingham202015585294.jpg?width=640&auto=webp&quality=75 640w” layout=”responsive” class=”i-amphtml-layout-responsive i-amphtml-layout-size-defined” i-amphtml-layout=”responsive”> The Home Office said on Wednesday that Patel is ‘responsible for all areas of Home Office business, including those related to national security’
‘Not our finest hour,’ says defence committee chair
US withdrawal could see Al Qaeda return, warns defence secretary
Echoing a warning from the head of the Armed Forces yesterday, defence secretary Ben Wallace has said the US’ decision to withdraw from Afghanistan will likely lead to the return of global terrorism.
“Al Qaeda will probably come back,” Mr Wallace told Sky’s Kay Burley this morning.
He said failed states “lead to instability” before admitting that the UK government is “worried” further security threats will emerge as the Taliban gains momentum in Afghanistan.
It comes after General Nick Carter told the BBC on Thursday that a dangerous “security vacuum” risks opening up in Afghanistan, potentially enabling international terrorism to take a grip once again.
“I think we have already got a humanitarian tragedy. The question now is whether it gets worse or not,” he said. “If we end up with a scenario where the state fractures, and you end up essentially with a security vacuum, then there are absolutely ideal conditions for international terrorism and extremism to prosper yet again.”
Minister avoids question on reversing foreign aid cuts to Afghanistan
More from the defence secretary. He has refused to say whether a cut in foreign aid should be reversed to help any future humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
Asked by Sky News about a column written in The Sun today, Ben Wallace said: “I think the British government have been clear that the cut has been a temporary cut, but also let’s not forget foreign aid is part of it, but remember defence delivers huge amounts of what we call soft power, we recently had a team in Sudan building a dam, for example.
“My soldiers in my department are constantly around the world doing humanitarian support, not pure military support. There are a lot of ways to deliver that support.”
Lord Dannatt, writing for the tabloid today, called on ministers to reverse the cut in foreign aid from 0.5 per cent of national income to 0.7 per cent.
UK ‘has left absolute mess’ in Afghanistan, says Tory MP
The US and UK governments have made a number of “school boy errors” during their time in Afghanistan, Tobias Ellrood, the chair of the defence committee, has said.
Speaking to LBC this morning, the Tory MP criticised the US’ decision to withdraw from the state and said it was a “shame” no patience had been show.
“You look at where Afghanistan is on the map – between Iran, Russia and China – this is an important piece of global real estate and we are giving up,” he told Nick Ferrari.
“This is the West’s biggest own goal this century so far,” he added.
Asked how the UK government “looked this morning”, Mr Ellrood criticised Boris Johnson’s previous claims “Global Britain is back” and said the West needed to show “greater determination” in Afghanistan than it had.
You can watch the interview here:
‘Heartbreaking’: Johnson urged to speak out on situation in Afghanistan
Former armed forces minister Johnny Mercer has said it is “deeply humiliating” to watch the situation in Afghanistan unfold, and apologised to those affected.
Speaking to various media outlets this morning, Mr Mercer also criticised “our political leaders” for failing to comment on the decision to deploy hundreds of British troops.
“The political will to see through enduring support to Afghanistan has not been there and a lot of people are going to die because of that, and for me that is extremely humiliating,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“It’s a world tragedy and we are going to reap the repercussions of this over many years to come.”
And to Sky News, Mr Mercer added: “For those of us who committed a long time of our lives – but particularly for those who lost people over there – to watch this happening and to see so little comment from our political leaders at this time, it’s heartbreaking to watch.”
Afghanistan ‘heading towards civil war,’ Wallace warns
Afghanistan is “heading towards civil war” and Al-Qaeda will “probably come back” with the country becoming a breeding ground for instability after the withdrawal of coalition troops, Ben Wallace has warned.
Following the announcement that the UK was sending 600 troops to the region to carry out an emergency airlift of civilians, the defence secretary said the Taliban had the “momentum” as it sized several key cities, writes our political correspondent Ashley Cowburn.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Wallace warned the country was “heading towards civil war” and said he had concerns that in failed states “the breeding ground for both poverty and indeed terrorism indeed grows”.
Migrant who died in Channel was African man in late-20s
Let’s step away from Afghanistan for a moment. A person who died while trying to reach the UK after the boat he and others were travelling in sank was an African man in his late-20s, the French authorities have said.
Search and rescue teams were called to the Channel at around 10am on Thursday morning after a vessel carrying 36 people, including families, got into difficulty roughly 13 nautical miles off Dunkirk.
The man was found unconscious by the cargo ship’s life boat after reportedly suffering a cardio-respiratory arrest.
Follow our social affairs correspondent May Bulman’s breaking report here:
