Dominic Raab last night returned to Britain from abroad as fury mounts at the UK’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis.
Reports claimed the Foreign Secretary was on holiday before the Taliban advanced into the capital Kabul on Sunday morning.
It came after he was slammed by top Tory and Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Tughendat, who said: “We haven't heard from the Foreign Secretary in about a week - despite this being the biggest single policy disaster since Suez.”
After it emerged he had been on holiday during the build-up to the takeover, he was slammed by Labour.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “For the Foreign Secretary to go AWOL during an international crisis of this magnitude is nothing short of shameful."
Ex-MP Jim Murphy said: "I remember being six hours into my holiday in Spain when Russia and Georgia’s 2008 war began. I was FCO minister for Europe. Gordon Brown rightly had me back at my desk that same day."
The former Secretary General of NATO, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, who is also an ex-Defence Secretary, slammed Mr Raab remaining on holiday while the situation in Afghanistan escalated.
He said: "It is stunning that the Foreign Secretary would stay on holiday as our mission in Afghanistan disintegrated. The horrors unfolding with every minute demand focused attention from the top.
"The urgency involves both the evacuation of British citizens but also what is now to happen to the people of Afghanistan.
“The fact that the Foreign Secretary is missing in action shows graphically the lack of purpose in our government’s attitude to what we set out to do twenty years ago.
“As Secretary General of NATO on 9/11 and the person who announced the invoking of Article 5, the self-defence cause in the North Atlantic Treaty, I am sickened by the prospect of the twentieth anniversary being marked by the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan.”
On Sunday Mr Raab broke his silence, tweeting: “It is critical that the international community is united in telling the Taliban that the violence must end and human rights must be protected.”
Boris Johnson also chaired his second COBRA meeting in three days and Parliament will be recalled on Wednesday.
But furious Conservatives have accused the UK of ditching 20 years of progress after the US and allies withdrew a two-decade military presence in Afghanistan, where 457 British troops died.
Taliban insurgents have swept through the country, regaining ground they lost in the 2001 invasion following the 9/11 attacks and leaving around 6,000 British nationals on the ground in Afghanistan.
President Ashraf Ghani left the country after Taliban fighters entered the capital Kabul.
The crisis has raised furious questions about why the US and UK did not foresee the speed of the collapse or do more to protect Afghanistan.
Former UK ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Nicholas Kay "hung his head in shame" as he watched the dramatic events unfold.
In scenes reminiscent of the fall of Saigon, helicopters were seen landing at the US embassy to ferry away remaining staff.
That is despite President Joe Biden insisting last month: “There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of the embassy of the United States from Afghanistan.”
US diplomats were being ferried by helicopter to the airport, where US troops were providing security, according to Reuters.
Boris Johnson also told MPs on July 8: “I would just say to the Taliban that they have made the commitment… in their negotiations with General Khalilzad. They must abide by that commitment.
"I am sure [the Taliban] will be aware that there is no military path to victory for the Taliban.
“There must be a peaceful and a negotiated settlement for the political crisis in Afghanistan, and the UK will continue to work to ensure that that takes place.
“I believe that can happen - I do not believe that the Taliban are guaranteed the kind of victory that we sometimes read about.”
Defence Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood said the latest twist was a humiliation for the West adding: "It is only a matter of time before we endure another 9/11 style attack."
Ex-Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the situation “has all the elements of a strategic disaster” and would see “the door opening again for Al-Qaeda and similar groups who will threaten our safety and security”.
Tory MP Johnny Mercer, a former Army officer who did three tours in Afghanistan, told Sky News: "I never thought I’d see the day either as a serviceman or as a member of the Conservative Party where we would essentially surrender to the Taliban and leave these people to their fate. But that day has come."
Labour MP Dan Jarvis, an ex-para who served in the country, called for international leaders to step up, adding: "It feels as if it's all been for nothing."
Last night the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said Mr Raab “is returning to the UK today, given the situation”.
Officials have not denied claims by the Daily Mail and the Times that he was on holiday abroad.
An FCDO spokesperson said: "The Foreign Secretary is personally overseeing the FCDO response, and engaging with international partners.”
No10 sources were also tight-lipped about how the recall of Parliament would affect Boris Johnson’s plans to go on holiday this week.
As of 5pm it was unclear whether the Prime Minister would go on holiday at all.
Plans for the evacuation of UK Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow have been put on hold with the Foreign Office saying he "remains in Kabul" for now.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We have reduced our diplomatic presence in response to the situation on the ground, but our Ambassador remains in Kabul and UK Government staff continue to work to provide assistance to British nationals and to our Afghan staff.
“We are doing all we can to enable remaining British nationals, who want to leave Afghanistan, to do so.”
MPs will return to Parliament at 9.30am on Wednesday for an emergency debate on the ongoing situation.
Pressure is mounting on the Government to open the UK's doors to refugees - after a report in the Sunday Times claimed the Home Office is reluctant to give some Afghans asylum “because of the message it will send to other refugees”.
In a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel, her Labour counterpart Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “We must now live up to our obligations, especially to those Afghan people who worked so bravely with British representatives in Afghanistan.
“Our resettlement scheme must - urgently - be expanded to ensure people to whom we owe a huge debt are not abandoned.
"The UK Government must put in place specific safe and legal asylum routes to help provide support.”
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace claimed the UK could not secure the government in Afghanistan alone, without the help of the US.
Despite British embassy staff fleeing, he claimed the original mission in Afghanistan 20 years ago was "entirely successful".
He added: "It would be arrogant to think we could solve Afghanistan unilaterally.
"A unilateral force would very quickly be viewed as an occupying force and, no matter how powerful the country that sends it, history shows us what happens to them in Afghanistan."
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “This is a very sad day. The situation in Afghanistan is deeply shocking and seems to be worsening by the hour.
"Our thoughts are with the Afghan people. The immediate priority now must be to get all British personnel and support staff safely out of Kabul.
"The Government has been silent while Afghanistan collapses which let's be clear will have ramifications for us here in the UK.”
