Politicians must not abandon those who sacrifice blood on their orders

The situation in Afghanistan is heartbreaking. With Kunduz seemingly overrun on Saturday, some Afghan National Police and Army commanders simply became turncoats and joined the Taliban, as the police chief in Lashkar Gah did last week.

It is depressing, of course it is. But what was worse was the abandonment of those who crossed the threshold for a better Afghanistan, who worked for UK forces knowing it would place them at risk when we were gone: we are now ignoring their pleas for assistance in their hour of need.

The Home Secretary and the Defence Secretary wrote a very foolish letter this week in response to well-understood and totally legitimate concerns from more than 40 leaders in defence of the abandonment of this cohort.

But since then, the Defence Secretary has applied himself hard to understand the problems, and made policy changes that will undoubtedly save lives.

There is still more to do to make sure the Afghan Resettlement and Assistance Programme does what we need it to do, but it is in a significantly better place than it was seven days ago.

But it belies an ongoing problem in this country when it comes to looking after the people who actually get their hands dirty and often sacrifice everything in the pursuit of political aims dictated from Whitehall.

I’ve asked the last three UK prime ministers face to face why this is.

David Cameron understood my anger, but got swept away by Brexit. I think Theresa May just thought I was weird. While Boris Johnson talks a good game, he can’t seem to ignore those around him who still believe looking after people is not worth the political capital. But they all agreed on the same thing: that bombs, bullets, hostage rescues and photographs on aircraft carriers are “good” politically. The detail of looking after people? Well, by then we’re more obsessed with the next ridiculous culture war or something else that polls better with the heartlands. Broken people? The consequences of our brave men and women seeing through what we ask of them? Those things certainly don’t poll well. And anyway, we keep telling them how much we appreciate them, isn’t that enough?

I think it’s about empathy; an empathy that is missing in politics. I know my methods are brutal, calling out colleagues and ministers openly. But that is what changes and improves the lives of real people.

I’m proud of our collective efforts this past week, but there is much, much further to go when it comes to looking after those who spill blood on the orders of politicians; politicians who are still far too uninterested in the human consequences of some of their ridiculous decisions.