Boris Johnson has said all British troops would be “coming home” from Afghanistan, confirming the end of the UK’s official role in a two-decades long conflict.
Most of the 750 remaining British troops have already been pulled out of the country, the prime minister told MPs on Thursday.
“I hope no one will leap to the false conclusion that the withdrawal of our forces somehow means the end of Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan – we are not about to turn away,” Mr Johnson told parliament.
Mr Johnson promised the pull-out would not be “the end of commitment” to Afghanistan – pledging £100m in development assistance and £58m for the country’s security and defence forces this year.
Earlier today, the prime minister escaped with a rap on the knuckles over a free New Year holiday in the Caribbean provided by a donor for him and then-fiancee Carrie Symonds.
The Commons Standards Committee has branded the prime minister’s actions in explaining the source of the funding for the £15,000 break in a Mustique villa “unsatisfactory”.
But the committee - made up of MPs and lay members - overruled a finding by Westminster’s sleaze watchdog Kathryn Stone that Mr Johnson broke the rules on MPs’ interests.
Elsewhere, the UK has given the EU a new deadline of two weeks to agree to axe trade checks introduced by the Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, or risk unilateral action by London.
A fresh “approach” will be set out this month if talks fail to agree a breakthrough, ministers said – warning a truce over chilled meats and medicines had failed to solve the crisis caused by the Protocol.
