Report: Raab refused to return from holiday as Taliban took Kabul
Dominic Raab was told he should return home from his holiday as the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated but stayed for two more days, according to reports.
Raab is under huge pressure to resign after it emerged he was on holiday while Afghanistan fell to the Taliban and reportedly delegated a call to a junior minister from his Afghan counterpart to discuss the plight of the interpreters and others who worked for the British in Afghanistan and now face retribution from the Taliban.
Last night, it was reported a senior No 10 official advised him to return to Whitehall on Friday, August 13, two days before the capital was seized and the same day as he was told by officials to make a call to Afghan Foreign Minister Hanif Amtar about repatriating interpreters who helped allied forces during the war, but the task was delegated to junior minister Lord Goldsmith. It has emerged the call was never made.
It was claimed that, after being urged to return, Raab then “nobbled” the Prime Minister, who agreed to him remaining in Crete until Sunday evening. Raab landed in Britain at 1.40am on Monday, after Kabul had fallen.
There has been mounting calls for Raab to consider his position but Boris Johnson has said he still has his confidence. Last week, the Prime Minister pledged to take in 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan, with up to 5,000 to be allowed into the UK in the first year.
Health minister Humza Yousaf yesterday accused Raab of “having pina coladas by the pool” instead of making a call to help interpreters stranded in Afghanistan. Speaking in Glasgow at a rally calling for action to help Afghans fleeing the Taliban, Yousaf, the Scottish Health Secretary, said the UK Government had failed to act with compassion or contrition: “Not one single syllable of regret by any UK Government. Shame on each and every one of those political leaders who have abandoned the Afghan people.
“All the while we have a foreign secretary who is more occupied with having pina coladas by the pool as opposed to picking up the phone to help Afghan interpreters who helped our soldiers there in Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, it yesterday emerged the minister for Afghanistan Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon was on a staycation when Kabul fell. He is said to have
remained in contact with his staff and worked on cases of people stuck in the Middle East nation.
Asked about the latest allegations, the Foreign Office highlighted Raab’s statement issued on Friday. It also said: “Lord Ahmad has been working closely with the foreign secretary and the FCDO team throughout the response to events in Afghanistan, including engaging with international partners.”