Boris Johnson: ‘The UK could not have prevented the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan but we were ready for it’

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ITV News political reporter Carl Dinnen reports on the debate

Boris Johnson insisted that the UK was ready for a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, but told MPs that any ideas Britain would have prevented were an “illusion”.

The prime minister opened a debate on the situation in Afghanistan after parliament was summoned late amid the restoration of the country by the Islamist group, 20 years after it was ousted by Western forces during the stricken ‘war on terror’.

Both the British and American government have come under heavy attack for the way the remaining troops in the country have been withdrawn, with critics questioning why leaders did not anticipate the rapid Taliban insurgency.

But the Prime Minister defended the UK, saying it was “not correct to say that the UK government was not ready or not expecting this, because it was certainly part of our planning”.

He appeared to blame America’s unilateral withdrawal from Afghanistan for the events taking place in the country, saying that “the West cannot continue this US-led mission…without US logistics, without US air power and without US power.”

He added: “I really think that it is an illusion to believe that there is a desire among any of our partners for the continuation of the military presence or a military solution imposed by NATO in Afghanistan.”

Former Prime Minister Theresa May attacked her successor, asking “was our information so bad” that he and President Joe Biden claimed the Taliban would not be able to overthrow the former Afghan government.

“What is most shocking is the chaos and the speed with which the Taliban seized power,” she told parliamentarians.

In July of this year, both President Biden and the Prime Minister indicated that they did not believe the Taliban was ready or able to take over the country.

Was our intelligence really poor? Was our understanding of the Afghan government so poor? Was our knowledge of the situation on the ground so inadequate? Or did we really believe it? Or did we feel we just had to follow the US and hope that everything would be okay? okay at night on the wing and pray?

“Because the truth is that as long as this time limit and exact dates for withdrawal were set, all the Taliban had to do was make sure there were enough problems for the Afghan government not to be able to take full control of the country and then just sit back and wait.”

Prime Minister Johnson said a plan to evacuate British nationals from Afghanistan had been in place for two weeks, long before the Taliban took control of Kabul airport.

But he said the focus should now be on helping Afghan refugees leave the country and preventing a humanitarian crisis inside the country, while protecting the human rights of those who cannot leave.

Johnson’s spokesman told reporters that aid funding for the country would double to 286 million pounds, but said: “We are not giving this money to the Taliban.”

He said that it will be distributed jointly with the United Nations and other NGOs (NGOs).

Watch the MPs’ debate on the entire Afghan crisis

The Prime Minister said: “I can tell the House that so far we have … secured the safe return of 306 British nationals and 2,052 Afghans as part of the resettlement programme, with an additional 2,000 Afghani applications being completed and many others processed.

“British officials are working around the clock to keep the exit door open in the most difficult of circumstances and are actively looking for those we believe are eligible but not yet registered.”

Downing Street said the British embassy in Afghanistan had “virtually moved to the airport” in Kabul.

Number 10 said the State Department’s Rapid Deployment Team has now arrived in the country and is working “on the ground with the ambassador and others.”

A spokesman for MR Johnson said the former embassy building was “not currently occupied” and that the Taliban were allowing the UK to move forward with evacuating it.

The Prime Minister noted that the new government of Afghanistan can avoid becoming an outcast by democratic countries around the world, if it protects human rights.

Taliban fighters patrol the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: AP

“We will judge this regime based on its choices – and its actions, not its words,” he said.

“With regard to its stance on terrorism, crime and drugs, as well as humanitarian access and girls’ rights to education, the defense of human rights will continue to be a top priority.

“We will use all available political and diplomatic means to ensure that human rights remain high on the international agenda.”

However, Downing Street will not be drawn to whether the UK will recognize any government formed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

She said any decision would need a “united approach” internationally.

May said events in Afghanistan constituted a “major setback for British foreign policy” nearly 20 years after British troops entered the country in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

In a moving speech that drew rare applause from some MPs, Toure Tom Tugendhat – who served as an army officer in Afghanistan – said the UK and its Western allies had learned a “very tough lesson”.

“It doesn’t have to be a defeat, but at the moment it looks very good,” he said.

Johnson ended his speech in the House of Commons by insisting that British soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan did not die in vain, and that those who fought there should be “proud of their accomplishments”.

“Because no matter how bleak the lessons of the past may be, the future is not yet written, and at this bleak juncture, we must help the people of Afghanistan choose the best of their possible future,” he added.

But Labor leader Sir Keir said recent events in Afghanistan had brought “disgrace”. [on] the West”.

“It has been a disastrous week, and a tragedy unfolding” in Afghanistan, Sir Keir said, adding: “The desperate situation demands leadership and the prime minister’s complacency.”

On Tuesday evening, Johnson announced a new settlement scheme, which would allow up to 20,000 vulnerable Afghan refugees to seek refuge in the UK over the coming years.

But Sir Keir called on the prime minister to set up a resettlement program for Afghan refugees “that would meet the challenge”.

The Labor leader told the House of Commons: “The scale of the refugee crisis demands an international response but we must lead it and lead a resettlement program that is up to the challenge.

“The scheme should be generous and welcoming.

“If not, we know the consequences, and we know the consequences now: Violent reprisals in Afghanistan, people are tragically fleeing into the arms of people smugglers – we know this will happen – more people are risking and losing their lives on unsafe journeys including across the English Channel.

“We cannot betray our friends, we must lead.”

The new resettlement scheme for Afghan nationals will target women, children and others who have been forced to flee their homes or face threats of persecution from the Taliban.

Sir Keir Starmer attacked the chart as “mysterious” and said the figures in it were “taken from the air”.

The Labor leader added: “We do not turn our backs on our friends in a time of need – we owe a commitment to the people of Afghanistan.”

This comes three days after the Taliban’s rapid advance reached its climax in capturing the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The first flight of British nationals and embassy staff arrived Sunday evening at Brize Norton, a Royal Air Force air base in Oxfordshire, about 75 miles (120 kilometres) northwest of London.

Labor leader Sir Keir praised the British ambassador in the country for helping him process requests for those wishing to leave Afghanistan, but attacked the prime minister and foreign minister for what he said was inaction on their part.

The prime minister’s response to the Taliban’s arrival at the gates of Kabul was to go on vacation.

There is no sense in the gravity of the situation and no leadership pushing the international efforts to evacuate.”

When asked by the Conservative Party seats what he would do differently, Sir Keir said: “I will not stay on vacation while Kabul is falling.”

Addressing Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Sir Kiir said: “He’s screaming now but he’s on vacation while our mission in Afghanistan was unraveling. He didn’t even talk to the ambassadors in the region when Kabul fell to the Taliban. Let that sink in.”

“You can’t coordinate an international response from the shore. A dereliction of duty by the prime minister and foreign minister, a government totally unprepared for the scenario that had 18 months to prepare.”

He said the British and Afghan people “will have to bear the consequences of the prime minister’s failure,” adding: “What we gained during 20 years of sacrifice could be lost.

“This is the price of careless driving.”

Mr Raab responded furiously, saying the Labor leader had no “credible” alternatives to the government’s approach.

“The esteemed fitting master has not given a single example of an act he would have taken that we did not do—not a single example.

“But then she issued a series of barbs. The shadow secretary of state took a similar approach in her speech.”

Raab said: “The Labor leader agreed to the decision to withdraw, but now, with his expected tendency to hindsight, the honorable gentleman is criticizing the consequences of the decision he supported.

“He does so without any serious or reliable alternative, not even a hint, and a reminder in a Shakespearean proverb, that an empty bowl makes the greatest sound.”

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