Boris Johnson flunked his big test of political leadership over the catastrophic collapse of Afghanistan
In front of a packed House of Commons the Tory Prime Minister ducked and dived his way through piercing questions from MPs as he waffled his way through an opening statement in a day-long debate on Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister had few answers or explanations for the UK’s lack of co-ordinated response to the sudden Taliban takeover at the end of a 20 year war which claimed the lives of 457 British troops and thousands of Afghan civilians.
The PM struggled in a hostile atmosphere to insist that the UK mission in Afghanistan had been a success.
His announcement that 5,000 Afghan refugees would be accepted in the UK this year as part of an emergency resettlement scheme for 20,000 was met with a stinging response.
Labour’s Chris Bryant asked a peircing question onjust 5,000 refugees being accepted this year with a target of 20,000 over the longer term.
Bryant asked: “What are the 15,000 meant to do, hang around and wait to be executed?”
The Prime Minister confirmed that the UK government will not be deporting people already in the UK to Afghanistan, after it was pointed out to him by Stella Creasy MP that until last week that was still Home Office policy.
Johnson faced a rowdy reception from MPs on his own side as he rejected calls for a full inquiry into the Afghanistan campaign.
Former Army officer and former Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood was left slack-jawed as the PM told him: “most of the key questions have already been extensively gone into.”
Johnson insisted the West could not, and should not, continue the Afghan mission without American support.
Johnson set out the “hard reality” that “the west could not not continue this US-led mission without American logistics, without US airpower, and without American might”.
He said: “I do not believe deploying tens of thousands of British troops to fight the Taliban is an option that would commend itself to the British people or this House”.
Labour leader Keir Starmer said “it’s been a disastrous week, an unfolding tragedy” as he demanded the Prime Minister shake himself out of his “complacency” on Afghanistan.
Starmer won himself a hearing by addressing UK military verterans directly and telling them their efforts to fight al quaeda terrorism and to establish education and democracy in Afghanistan had not been in vain.
He said: “Those achievements were born of sacrifice, sacrifice by the Afghan people, who bravely fought alongside their Nato allies, and British sacrifice, over 150,000 UK personnel have served in Afghanistan, including members across this House.”
He added: “The gains through 20 years of sacrifice hang precariously. Women and girls fear for their liberty, Afghan civilians are holding on to the undercarriage of Nato aircraft literally clinging to departing hope and we face new threats to our security and an appalling humanitarian crisis.”
Starmer charged Johnson with failing the people of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops was announced last year.
He told the Commons: “We had 18 months to plan and prepare and to support the Afghan government. It has been a failure of preparation. It is unforgivable and the PM bears a heavy responsibility. He mutters today but he was in a position to lead and he didn’t.”
Starmer called on the UK Government to lead an international response and create an Afghan refugee resettlement programme that “meets the scale of the challenge”.
The Labour leader told the Commons: “The scale of the refugee crisis requires an international response but we must lead it, and lead with a resettlement programme that meets the scale of the challenge.
“The scheme must be generous and welcoming. If it is not, we know the consequences, we know the consequences now: violent reprisals in Afghanistan, people tragically fleeing into the arms of human traffickers – we know this is what will happen – more people risking and losing their lives on unsafe journeys including across the English Channel.
“We cannot betray our friends, we must lead.”
