CROSS-PARTY MPs want parliament to be recalled over the escalating crisis in Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents are closing in on the capital Kabul.
Lisa Nandy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, told the BBC it would be “apt” for Parliament to be recalled to discuss the crisis.
She said: “I think if the Government cannot step up now and show that it has a clear strategy, a plan, and is doing all that it can to support the Afghan people and to deal with what is a really horrific situation ... if the Government cannot show that it is doing that then it may well fall to parliamentarians, cross-party parliamentarians, to try to put that pressure on to persuade the Speaker that we need a recall of Parliament.
“It is not too late for the Government to step forward and start to outline what it is doing, but we have got to have the opportunity to hold them to account, and I will be speaking to colleagues from other political parties … to see if there is more that we can do to make that happen.”
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She added: “We haven’t seen anything of the Foreign Secretary over the last few weeks, we haven’t seen anything from the Prime Minister, and it’s time that the Government needs to come out of hiding and step up and starting trying to resolve this.”
Boris Johnson convened an emergency Cobra meeting yesterday as the Liberal Democrats called for the UN to deploy peacekeepers.
Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, told The National: “We have had discussions with the UK Government and are aware of the Cobra meeting. But the most important thing is the people of Afghanistan for whom this is a tragedy, and for the women of the country in particular.”
LibDem leader Ed Davey said: “If Donald Trump had made this decision, the whole world would rightly be calling it out. Joe Biden cannot get a free pass just because he is a Democrat.
“Afghanistan is spiralling towards a devastating civil war. Millions of women and girls are facing medieval brutality. International terrorism will thrive under the Taliban. Given the tragedy unfolding before our eyes, Parliament must now be recalled.”
The recall move came as the UK, US and other countries began pulling their official staff out of Afghanistan, and after rapid Taliban conquests saw them take control of more than two thirds of the country.
Washington is sending 3000 troops to Kabul to help a partial evacuation of their embassy and to be prepared to help airlifts of Afghans who work with the American military.
“This is not abandonment. This is not an evacuation. This is not a wholesale withdrawal. What this is is a reduction in the size of our civilian footprint,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. President Joe Biden gave the order for the additional temporary troops on Thursday after conferring with national security officials.
Washington also warned Taliban leaders directly that the US would respond if the Taliban attacked Americans during the temporary US military deployments.
READ MORE: Afghanistan: UK Government sends 600 troops to evacuate Brits
The MoD will send 600 troops to Afghanistan to help British nationals leave the country. Canada, Denmark and Germany were among other countries preparing to evacuate embassy staff.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg and 30 national ambassadors are meeting in Brussels, said an official.
“Allies are constantly consulting on the situation on Afghanistan,” he said, adding that Stoltenberg was in regular contact with allies and Afghan authorities.
“Nato is monitoring the security situation very closely. We continue to co-ordinate with the Afghan authorities and the rest of the international community,” he said, adding that it retained a “diplomatic presence in Kabul”.
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