Pressure grows on Dominic Raab over Afghan failures

UK foreign secretary says humanitarian aid to Afghanistan will double to £286 million

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab arrives at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on Thursday morning. Reuters

Britain's opposition has accused the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab of a dereliction of duty for failing to step up efforts to fly Afghans linked to the UK military out of the country before the collapse of Kabul to the Taliban last week.

Lisa Nandy, his Labour Party opposite number, said Mr Raab's refusal to make a call recommended by officials while he was on holiday was a glaring dereliction of his duties. The revelation came after a special parliament session featured heavy criticism of Mr Raab and his boss, Boris Johnson.

“The foreign secretary should be ashamed and the prime minister has serious questions to answer over why he remains in the job,” she said. "MPs [Conservative and Labour] who served in Afghanistan spoke powerfully about our obligations. Not one MP – in more than seven hours of debate – spoke in defence of the government."

Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter: “Who wouldn’t make a phone call if they were told it could save somebody’s life?”

Mr Raab was in Crete when Kabul fell and left the job of contacting the Afghan officials to one of his deputy ministers. Late on Wednesday Mr Raab made a flurry of announcements, including that the UK would double its humanitarian and development aid to Afghanistan to £286 million ($393.3m) "We call on others to follow our lead to ensure the most vulnerable Afghans receive the humanitarian assistance they need," Mr Raab said late on Wednesday.

A day earlier, Britain announced plans to welcome up to 5,000 Afghans fleeing the Taliban during the first year of a new resettlement programme.

It will give priority to women, girls and religious and other minorities. The UK also called on other nations to help take in Afghan refugees.

Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, said the issue of the call made no material difference to events. The priority facing London was keeping Kabul airport operating even as the Taliban took over. “Without a functioning airport, we were going to get nobody out, no matter how many calls were made to a disappearing government,” he said.

The UK government is facing fierce criticism -- including from senior members of the ruling Conservative Party -- about its preparedness for withdrawing from Afghanistan and over the fate of Afghans who have served British troops and non-governmental organizations over the past two decades.

As the current chair of the Group of 7 richest nations London has called summits to coordinate a response at that level. Mr Raab presided over the foreign minister's conference on Thursday as he conducted a series of diplomatic engagements. An online meeting of leaders of the G7 grouping has already been scheduled for next week to discuss a common strategy and approach on the situation in Afghanistan.

Mr Raab spoke about the situation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken late on Wednesday.

He said he was working closely with USAid administrator Samantha Power on the humanitarian response to ensure that assistance reached the right people.

Mr Raab also spoke to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, to thank him for the country's support in sending UK staff and military personnel to Afghanistan and bringing home British citizens.