Dominic Raab faces more pressure due to delays in Afghanistan with the emergence of a delegated phone call to a Secretary of State that never happened | politics news

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A phone call that Secretary of State Dominic Raab advised to make with the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan surfaced but was delegated to a Secretary of State that did not take place.

Mr. Raab was reportedly “unavailable” when officials in his ministry suggested that he “urgently” contact Hanif Atmar on August 13 to arrange assistance in airlifting translators from Afghanistan – two days before the Taliban advanced to Kabul.

The responsibility for arranging the call with the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs was then handed over to a Minister of State.

However, it has since been revealed that the phone call never happened.

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Will Dominic Raab resign because of Afghanistan?

It was reported on Thursday that the Afghan Foreign Ministry refused to place the call with the minister of state, prompting it to return to the next day.

This meant a critical time was lost before the Taliban took control of Kabul on Sunday, leading to a desperate rush to evacuate thousands of Britons and interpreters, which continues.

“Due to the rapidly changing situation, it was not possible to arrange a call before the collapse of the Afghan government,” a spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth Office and Development (FCDO) said.

Raab has come under increasing pressure to resign since he refused to speak to Mr Atmar while on vacation in Crete.

Photo: British and dual nationals residing in Afghanistan board a military plane for evacuation. Pic: Ben Shred / UK MoD

The Labor Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and Blade Cymru have called for him to step down from his ministerial role and say Prime Minister Boris Johnson should sack him if he does not step down.

However, Downing Street said it had “full confidence” in Mr Raab.

Labor has put together a list of 18 urgent questions for the secretary of state to answer about his trip and how his department is dealing with the Afghan crisis.

The revelation comes amid reports that three of the UK’s top civil servants, responsible for departments dealing with evacuations from Afghanistan, are on vacation.

The Times reported that Sir Philip Barton, Matthew Rycroft and David Williams, who hold permanent secretarial positions in the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defense, are all on leave.

A government spokesperson said: “Departments in Whitehall have worked extensively at all levels in the past few days and weeks on the situation in Afghanistan.

“Thanks to these efforts, we have flown more than 2,000 Afghans to the UK since June, evacuated more than 400 British nationals and their families on RAF flights since Sunday and set up one of the most generous asylum programs in British history.”

The government said all Whitehall departments have tried and tested systems for managing when senior officials are on vacation or traveling.

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Both the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior have two permanent secretaries, one of whom always works while the other is on vacation, while the Ministry of Civil Defense and the Ministry of Interior have an “Acting Permanent Secretary” to cover vacation periods.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy condemned the government over the latest news, tweeting: “The government has had 18 months to prepare for this moment.”

Ms Nandi also told Sky News: “It has become incredibly clear that the position of foreign minister has become untenable.”

She added, “The lack of contact with the Afghan foreign minister seems to me completely shameful on the part of the government.”

Asked by reporters Thursday morning if he intended to resign over the matter, Mr. Raab replied: “No.”

Earlier on Thursday, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace defended Mr. Raab, telling Kay Burley that “one phone call is not our reason to be” regarding the current situation in Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Mr. Raab chaired a call for G7 foreign ministers to discuss the crisis, saying afterward that the foreign ministers agreed that each would “deal with partners” to try to secure a “comprehensive political settlement”, enable humanitarian assistance and prevent further losses. Life in Afghanistan and the international community of terrorism.

The government has announced that Britain will take in up to 20,000 people who want to leave Afghanistan as part of its resettlement scheme, with 5,000 people due to be accepted in the next 12 months.

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