Afghanistan

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Sir Keir questioned the Government's failure to identify and evacuate all eligible individuals before the fall of Kabul. He also asked about the number of UK nationals and Afghans left behind who were eligible under the ARAP scheme.

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Hilary Benn criticised the lack of preparation and leadership from the Government during the evacuation process. He questioned how many Afghans had been left behind and sought assurances on future plans for their safe passage.

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The MP thanked the Prime Minister for his statement but criticised the lack of leadership and planning by the Government, pointing out that only a third of eligible individuals under the ARAP scheme were processed. He highlighted significant delays in the evacuation process and urged recognition and support for those involved.

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The MP asked if Britain should take on a leadership role in NATO and other international forums in light of America’s isolationist foreign policy, highlighting the limits of UK influence. He suggested that this would require an overhaul of Whitehall to improve strategic thinking.

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May I thank all those who assisted in the evacuation from Afghanistan over the past few weeks? May I also thank the Prime Minister for the advance copy of his statement? Normally we have a Cabinet Minister sent to the House to cover for the Prime Minister, but today we have before us the Prime Minister desperately trying to cover for a Foreign Secretary who should have been sacked weeks ago. In Committee last week, the Foreign Secretary failed to answer even basic questions from my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South (Stewart Malcolm McDonald). I genuinely hope that the Prime Minister is better prepared today. There is barely an MP in this House who has not submitted urgent and sensitive information to the Foreign Office on UK and Afghan nationals desperate to find safe passage away from the Taliban. It is a disgrace that most of these urgent queries have been left unresolved and unanswered. So let me ask the Prime Minister: what assessment has been made of the number of UK nationals left in Afghanistan, and what plans are there to assist them? How many Afghans who qualify under the ARAP scheme as interpreters or in other groups have been left behind? Will the Prime Minister apologise to those who have been left behind, left high and dry—those the UK has a responsibility to?

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I join my right hon. Friend in commending all those involved with the Afghanistan airlift and all those of our armed forces who served in Afghanistan, 457 of whom, sadly, as we know, paid the ultimate sacrifice. We should all be proud of their achievements. Does he agree that as a result of NATO forces withdrawing from Afghanistan, the terrorist threat has increased? Will he confirm that all those involved in counter-terrorism work here in the UK will be given the necessary support to ensure that they can keep us safe?

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I have received hundreds of emails about Afghanistan from constituents, and I have British national constituents—a husband and his pregnant wife—in Afghanistan. What discussions have the Government had with Afghanistan’s neighbours about keeping borders open for those at risk under the Taliban and supporting refugees?

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First, I pay tribute to the Prime Minister for his increased funding for mental health care for veterans. I am sure he will keep that sum under review, in case it should need to rise. Will the Prime Minister draw on the lesson that he has already learned from the appointment of the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), as a single point of contact in the UK, and seek to have a single point of contact for those in Afghanistan who may need to access either the route to exit or support from Her Majesty’s Government?

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We all saw the horrific carnage outside Kabul airport, where more than 180 people were killed. I join the Prime Minister in remembering all those victims, not least the two British nationals and the child of a British national. That airport atrocity was the work of the terrorist organisation ISIS-K. Everyone agrees that we must now work to prevent ISIS-K from becoming a threat to the British people, yet under this Prime Minister’s watch he has not only failed to agree a co-ordinated international strategy to take on ISIS-K but failed even to proscribe ISIS-K as a terrorist organisation, unlike other Five Eyes countries. Will the Prime Minister explain these failures on national security?

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We are proving our immense generosity by supporting those in dire need in Afghanistan with safe passage to the UK, but our ability to do so is strained by the continuing uncontrolled illegal migration across the English channel. What more can the Government do to prevent it?

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May I raise a constituency matter with the Prime Minister? More than 800 local Afghani families have contacted me about their concerns over their relatives in Afghanistan. The thousands who are coming to this country are largely coming in through Heathrow and being quarantined in about seven hotels in my constituency. There is real anxiety, given the performance in the past on asylum seekers in hotels in my constituency, that those people could be trapped in those hotels for quite a long time to come. I would like the Prime Minister to arrange a meeting with myself and the relevant Minister or officials to discuss the plan to support those families—like everybody else, I welcome them, as do those in my community—but also the long-term relocation plan to make sure that they have all that they need to settle here for the future.

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I am working with incredible Stroud constituents who are dedicating their time to helping Afghan families under threat. These people are in hiding. The Taliban have been going door to door looking for them. Border options are dangerous and constantly changing. They are absolutely terrified. Will the Prime Minister help me to show those families that they should not lose hope and help us as MPs to provide timely and credible information about safe passage options?

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May I join the tributes to our armed forces who have worked so hard? There are still people being persecuted and hunted by the Taliban because they worked for the UK Government, but through contractors, not as direct employees. They have not had replies to their ARAP applications and rumours are circulating that many of the places on the resettlement scheme have already been allocated.

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The Council for At-Risk Academics has sent a list of 12 scholars at risk, some in hiding due to lack of documentation. Will the Home Office prioritise these individuals?

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The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the region is growing rapidly. What steps has the Prime Minister taken to avert famine?

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Does my right hon. Friend agree that Britain is in a pivotal position to help people in Afghanistan, given our role on the UN Security Council and as G7 chair?

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The Taliban control most of Afghanistan's opium production. What steps is the Prime Minister taking to prevent them from flooding our communities with heroin?

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Can the Prime Minister reassure the people of this country about our military capability against groups like ISIS-K?

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There is a lack of co-ordination between Departments regarding eligibility for asylum in the UK. When will this issue be addressed?

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What role does the Prime Minister envisage for countries like Pakistan, Uzbekistan and China in the geopolitics of central Asia?

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There is currently no co-ordination between Departments regarding eligibility for asylum under different criteria.

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What is the Prime Minister's assessment of the Taliban's capability to deal with terrorist threats?

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Under the Nationality and Borders Bill, Afghan refugees arriving irregularly will be criminalised. Will the Prime Minister withdraw this bill?

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I hope the Prime Minister will join me in congratulating Wiltshire Council on their efforts. Will he assure councils they will get the resources they need?

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Like other Members, my constituency office and I have been doing everything we can to help constituents trapped in Afghanistan and to help their relatives who need to get out urgently, but it is clear that the Government are failing to do all they can to help these vulnerable people and are disgracefully putting even more people’s lives at risk. More widely, President Biden has called for an end to ‘an era of major military operations to remake other countries’. Given the huge loss of life in the disastrous and tragic wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere, is it not time that we do the same?

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Can I ask the Prime Minister what engagement he and the Foreign Secretary have had with non-governmental organisations, which are the only western organisations that are still on the ground in Afghanistan, and what steps he will take to protect them? Can I also ask what parameters need to be met to see the embassy reopened?

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Later today, I will be reunited with an Afghan special forces commander whom I had the privilege of serving alongside. He is mightily relieved to be here, but understandably deeply concerned about the hundreds of his men and their family members who, although approved for relocation to the UK, were left behind. What can I tell him is being done to ensure that those who are in limbo are afforded safe passage, protection and unimpeded access to the UK?

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The Prime Minister just said from the Dispatch Box that no veterans’ call for help will go unanswered, and I totally support that ambition. In fact, that was a central aim with the establishment of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs when he started it, but he and I know that he has consistently failed to take the measures required to make that a reality for veterans in communities like mine. What is he going to do differently to make veterans feel this has changed?

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I have cases involving more than 300 people who are still stranded in Afghanistan, and despite raising every case with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office, I have yet to receive a substantial response—not one. My constituents are desperate for information on how to travel to third countries and when the full resettlement scheme will be launched. Will the Prime Minister meet me to discuss these urgent cases, and promise that every email will receive a proper response from the relevant Department?

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Like many Members, I have had emails from Afghans in this country worried about their people back in Afghanistan. The Home Office and the Foreign Office have managed to get some of those people relocated, but I had the extraordinary situation where I had a very detailed email about Afghans who were being persecuted and who had worked for the British. It was very detailed and they produced all the documentation. The following day, my constituent wrote to me and said, “I am really sorry. It is a complete lie. These people are Taliban, and I cannot go through with this masquerade.” I just wonder whether we should be on guard against getting such people into this country.

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Will the Prime Minister clarify the situation that applies to Afghans who were in our asylum system in this country prior to the fall of Kabul? Will they too be given indefinite leave to remain?

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The whole House agreed with the Prime Minister when he celebrated the heroism of our troops, but that simply served to crystallise that this was not so much a defeat as a capitulation: an abandonment by the west of both people and principle. Does the Prime Minister believe that Tony Blair was right this morning when he said that western leadership was ‘naive’ to believe that countries could be remade, or was it that our remaking of Afghanistan needed to last longer?

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The Prime Minister will know that after the calamitous collapse of the Government in Kabul and the disorderly retreat by western powers, there was rejoicing in parts of Mozambique, across the Sahel and, of course, in Somalia. Those are countries in which we have an interest because, if nothing else, they can be a source of terrorism here. What messages is he prepared to give about the UK working with partners to guarantee a proper, measured response that ensures we are not at risk of terrorism?

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Many lessons will have been learned and relearned from Afghanistan—not least the need for boots on the ground. With the US becoming more isolated, will my right hon. Friend look again at the disastrous plan to reduce the Army by 10,000?

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Last Friday, a young Afghan constituent told me through tears how his father—a British citizen—was turned away from the Baron hotel in Kabul on 28 August. He was trying to evacuate his other children, but he was refused permission to take two of them out of the country because they were aged 18 and 19. Can the Prime Minister imagine the pain of that family separation? All of them have stayed in Kabul, at huge risk to themselves. Will he look again at the family reunification rules and finally make it possible for families to stay together and not to have to face such a terrible choice?

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Many constituents have understandably been in touch, desperately worried about family members in Afghanistan. They want to find out whether the Afghan citizens’ resettlement scheme will be an application or an allocation process, when it will open and what that process will look like.

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Christians in Afghanistan are one of the many minorities facing persecution, and many have been forced to flee their homes. A church community in my constituency is working around the clock to support several Christian families to flee to Pakistan and to seek asylum at the embassy of a safe third country. They are not looking for asylum in the UK, but to get to Pakistan. What particular support will the right hon. Gentleman’s Government offer vulnerable Christians such as those whom the community in my constituency are working with?

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Calls for the UK to pull back from its alliance with the US are rejected; the importance of our alliance and the need for continued economic and security cooperation is emphasised.

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Families of two constituents were forcibly removed from Kabul airport; asks how this could happen and what will be said to those in danger.

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Chinese threats to Taiwan since Afghanistan withdrawal; asks the PM to reaffirm UK support for democracy and self-determination in Taiwan.

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State duty of care for mental health of traumatised refugees; current waiting times are two to three years.

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Request for additional funds for local councils like Derbyshire Dales to support Afghan arrivals.

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Criticism of PM’s handling of Afghanistan withdrawal; questions if any personal responsibility is accepted.

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Proposes seeking guidance from Al-Azhar on Islamic principles for assessing Taliban's actions.

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Concerns about uneven distribution of refugees across wealthier and poorer areas; asks if fairness is an issue.

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Calls for a strategic review of actions over the past 20 years since 9/11.

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Requests incentives for industry willing to provide housing and jobs to Afghan refugees in their businesses.

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Compliments PM’s leadership; requests continued focus on women's education and participation in Afghan society.

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Suggests a full inquiry into the process leading up to and during Afghanistan intervention.

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Following our withdrawal from Afghanistan, where we were effectively dragged out on the coat-tails of the US, the world has changed and become more dangerous. Will the Prime Minister share his latest assessment of the so-called special relationship? Is it not time for another defence review?

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Since he stood on a platform of global Britain, where does Britain have more influence than before the Prime Minister became Prime Minister?

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Will the Prime Minister join him in commending the team at Birmingham airport, Solihull Council and third sector organisations who have welcomed nearly 1,000 people a day?

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May the Prime Minister reflect on the idea of a single triage point for Afghan cases sent to Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary, and Home Secretary?

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Can the Prime Minister confirm that armed forces personnel who serve abroad receive the best support and care when they return home?

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Does this mean that Afghan interpreters are included in the resettlement scheme given they were not eligible for ARAP?

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Does the Prime Minister agree that we have no choice but to engage with the Taliban, perhaps with a forward presence in Kabul?

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What is the Prime Minister’s response to the exposure of our limitations in Afghanistan?

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Does the Prime Minister agree that we should be proud of all we have done in Afghanistan?

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Will the Government give an undertaking that they will make sure Departments have resources to communicate with constituents regarding relatives in Afghanistan?