Cabinet ministers and Tory MPs joined forces this morning to condemn the UK and US governments’ “humiliating”, “shameful” and “tragic” decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
The chair of the Commons’ Defence Select Committee branded the move “the West’s biggest own goal this century so far”. Asked how the UK government “looked this morning”, Tobias Ellrood criticised Boris Johnson’s claims “Global Britain is back”, saying instead the West needed to show “greater determination” than it had.
Former armed forces minister Johnny Mercer described the situation as “deeply humiliating” and apologised to those affected in Afghanistan. “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,” the Tory MP told Sky News.
Meanwhile, defence secretary Ben Wallace warned about the likely consequences the Taliban’s resurgence will have on global terrorist cells. “Al-Qaeda will probably come back, it certainly would like that type of breeding ground,” he told Sky. “That is what we see – failed states around the world lead to instability, lead to a security threat to us and our interests.”
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