Keir Starmer responds to whistleblower testimony

Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party, responding to the Foreign Office whistleblower testimony, said:

“This is a devastating testimony that lays bare the shambolic incompetence of the Government in protecting thousands of Afghans to whom we owed a duty. The ex-Foreign Secretary should have been busy doing his job instead of lying on a beach. It’s a total failure of political leadership.

“What I want to see now is an acknowledgement by the Prime Minister of the scale of failure and a plan to help those people who are still stuck in Afghanistan. We know very little about the numbers of those trapped or the contact the Government has had with them. It’s vital the Government take that duty of care very seriously.

“The Government’s lack of planning despite knowing of US withdrawal 18 months prior through the Doha agreement has led to thousands of trapped Afghans. I urge the Prime Minister to get a grip of the situation and show some political leadership.”