Raab accused of delaying and hampering UK withdrawal from Afghanistan

Dominic Raab was yesterday facing further questions after it was claimed that his refusal to speak to Foreign Office staff he viewed as “time wasters” caused a blockage during the evacuation from Afghanistan last year.

The Deputy Prime Minister, whose oversight of the mission amid the Taliban’s power grab came in for heavy criticism, was the subject of a fresh newspaper article which reported on claims that his working relationship with officials had a negative impact on Foreign Office efforts.

Raab is already facing an investigation into allegations he bullied civil servants.

He is understood to deny the latest claims, which suggest that ahead of the final stages of the UK withdrawal in August 2021, some decisions were “delayed and backed up” as the then-foreign secretary allowed only a small number of senior staff to engage with him.

According to the report, he described some senior Foreign Office officials as “time wasters”.