The crisis in Afghanistan is one of the most serious foreign policy challenges faced by this country since the Second World War.
Given the gravity of the situation it was an appalling misjudgement by Dominic Raab not to cut short his Mediterranean holiday.
In almost any other Government this would have been regarded as resignation matter.
Now we know why the Foreign Secretary refused to quit. He was reportedly given the green light by Boris Johnson to stay abroad.
It is beyond belief that the Prime Minister decided Mr Raab’s holiday was more important than trying to resolve the pressing and dangerous catastrophe developing in Kabul.
This was yet another terrible judgement call by Mr Johnson. The lives of British troops and officials are at risk as well as those of thousands of innocent Afghans.
It is a time for resolute leadership, not the slipshod amateurism of the current PM.
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Help the aged
If you judge a country on how it treats its elderly then England is failing badly.
Too many pensioners are not getting the care they need and deserve because of the broken social care system.
And a think-tank report reveals how people in some parts of the country are twice as likely to receive home care as those in other areas.
As a result many older people are being forced into more expensive residential accommodation and denied the chance to spend their remaining years at home.
Providing a properly funded and universal social care system should be a priority for this Government but nearly two years after Boris Johnson promised to fix this crisis we are still waiting for ministers to come up with a plan.
Gin and bear it
Actor Derek Griffiths says the cast was often “sozzled” when they recorded the cartoon SuperTed.
They must have felt a bit grizzly the next day.
