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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Mikey Smith

Labour vows to force Boris Johnson to account for 'catastrophic' Afghanistan failings

Labour has vowed to force Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab to take responsibility for their "catastrophic failings" ahead of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

The Prime Minister is set to give a statement to the Commons when MPs return from their summer break on Monday, outlining preparations to ensure safe passage for Afghans fleeing to Britain.

But this week will also see Labour hold the government's feet to the fire, with discussions underway to use an opposition day debate as a showdown to demand accountability from Ministers.

"This has been an unparalleled moment of shame for the Government," Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy told the Sunday Mirror.

"Ministers had 18 months to plan but as the deadline to evacuate approached, the most senior members of Government were all on holiday.

"Weeks after the Foreign Office warned the Taliban were advancing rapidly, there was no crisis centre, calls from the Afghan Government hadn’t been returned and thousands of urgent emails from MPs went unread.

"Who knows how many more could have been saved if the Foreign Secretary had done his job?”

Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy (Huddersfield Examiner)

Mr Raab returned from a diplomatic tour of the region in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Foreign Secretary departed Pakistan after holding talks with his counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and the country's army chief.

Mr Raab also visited Torkham, a major border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, to see the "challenge" faced from a "humanitarian perspective".

"We talked about the practical arrangements for ensuring safe passage across the border into Pakistan and other third countries," Mr Raab said.

More than 8,000 former Afghan staff and their family members eligible under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) were among the 15,000-plus people evacuated by the UK since August 13.

But Ms Nandy said the Government's complacency over the 18 months leading up to the US withdrawal from the country had been "staggering."

Ms Nandy accused the government of "staggering" complacency (REUTERS)

She said: "The Prime Minister told Parliament there was no military route to victory for the Taliban. Little more than 900 hours later Kabul fell.

"Despite warnings from his own department weeks ago, the Foreign Secretary seemed completely caught unawares.

"Emails bounced back, phone numbers redirected callers to Washing Machine World and documents with the names of those who had helped us were left strewn across the Embassy floor."

She added: "On his watch thousands of Afghans and British citizens have been abandoned and Britain is weaker in the world. We face new terrorist threats and a growing refugee crisis. After years of trashing our alliances, cutting aid and our armed forces, this is the reality of Tory Global Britain.

"When Parliament returns this week we will force Ministers to take responsibility and account for their catastrophic failings. Never again should we be forced to send 900 brave British troops to do their jobs in the most dangerous of circumstances because Ministers haven’t done theirs."

The Sunday Mirror understands Tory MPs are under a 'three line whip' to attend the Commons on Wednesday, though it's not clear if this is in response to Labour's opposition day debate plans or other Government business that has yet to be announced.

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