Total rhubarb!
PM rubbishes evidence he prioritised Afghan dogs
BORIS Johnson dismissed new evidence that he personally ordered the controversial evacuation of dogs and cats from Afghanistan as “total rhubarb”.
Following fresh claims to the contrary, the Prime Minister denied ensuring staff and animals at Pen Farthing’s Nowzad charity were prioritised during last year’s Operation Pitting evacuation.
In the final days of the mission, when the animals got safe passage to Britain, thousands wanting to flee the Taliban were left behind.
Now a newly surfaced email shared with a Commons inquiry shows a Foreign Office official saying the Prime Minister had just “authorised” the creatures’ rescue.
Speaking in North Wales, Mr Johnson said of the claim: “This whole thing is total rhubarb.”
Pressed on whether he intervened, he added: “Absolutely not, the military always prioritised human beings.”
Labour claimed Mr Johnson has been “caught out lying” in the face of the leaked email.
It was written by an official in the private office of Lord Goldsmith, an environment minister at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), on August 25.
It said that “the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated”, in reference to “charity Nowzad, run by an exRoyal Marine”.
Instruction
The evidence was submitted to the foreign affairs committee by Raphael Marshall, who worked for the FCDO at the time.
Mr Marshall told MPs that many colleagues wrote on the Teams message system that the Prime Minister had given an instruction to “call forward Nowzad’s staff for evacuation”. In response, Lord Goldsmith tweeted: “My position...was that the UK should prioritise evacuating people. I never discussed the Nowzad charity or their efforts to evacuate animals with the PM.”
Yesterday the BBC reported another email, also from August 25, saying then-foreign secretary Dominic Raab was “seeking a steer from No 10 on whether” to call Nowzad staff forward. The Prime Minister’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Nigel Casey, also emailed Mr Raab “to seek clear guidance for us from No 10 ASAP” on the issue.
A No10 spokesman said yesterday that it was “not uncommon in Whitehall for a decision to be interpreted or portrayed as coming directly from the Prime Minister, even when that’s not the case”. Asked if the Foreign Office official was in fact mistaken, he said: “That’s our understanding.” Defence Secretary Ben Wallace backed Mr Johnson, saying: “I was in charge, the Prime Minister never asked me [about Nowzad], it was nonsense.” Mr Farthing launched a highprofile campaign to get his staff and animals out of Kabul, using a plane funded through donations, which got clearance from the Government. His ally Dominic Dyer, who claims he “put pressure” on Mr Johnson’s wife and ministers to secure an evacuation, now says he feels “vindicated” – adding: “I’m not certain why [the PM] didn’t feel he could explain his involvement in August.”