MPS’ hotline for constituents to be rescued ‘not answered’

A HOTLINE for MPS to request evacuations from Afghanistan for their constituents goes straight to voicemail and pleas for assistance are not followed up, it is claimed.

Chris Bryant, Labour MP for Rhondda in Wales, said staff were “in tears every day” because their attempts to help British nationals do not receive a response from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The Government has said it is trying to evacuate 1,000 people a day, including some UK nationals and Afghans who worked with British forces during the 20-year war, but have admitted not everyone will be airlifted out.

RAF planes are taking off from Kabul airport, which is currently under the control of the US military. Taliban fighters are allowing Westerners to travel to the airport to be repatriated.

MPS were given a hotline to the Foreign Office to report constituents who had been stranded in Afghanistan after the fall of the country to the Taliban last Sunday.

But Mr Bryant, a former foreign office minister, said the line does not work and requests for assistance by other means are ignored.

“It’s meant to be an MPS’ hotline, but it just rings dead. It goes nowhere, it does nothing,” he said. “Lots of MPS’ staff are in tears every day because they come home and they’re just not able to do anything. It’s just like knocking your head against a brick wall.”

Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, has requested a meeting between Labour MPS and officials to discuss the situation.

It is understood that some Conservative MPS have already received a briefing from Nigel Adams, an FCDO minister.

On Saturday, Mr Bryant wrote to Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, to ask how many staff have been diverted to Afghanistan hotlines to assist Britons stranded abroad. “You could argue that we’ve had time since Donald Trump did the deal with the Taliban to be putting all of this in place,” he said.

“You just would have thought some- body in the Foreign Office would be going: ‘Right, what’s our emergency evacuation plan?’”

A spokesman for the FCDO said: “Our staff are working tirelessly to facilitate the swift evacuation of British nationals, Afghan staff and others at risk.

“The scale of the evacuation effort is huge and we have helped more than 5,000 people leave Afghanistan since Sunday.

“The line for UK nationals to request consular support is working.”