SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Dominic Raab has “no dignity whatsoever” and was “lying on a sunbed” as the Afghanistan crisis unfolded after the pair clashed during today's Commons debate.
Foreign Secretary Raab had accused Blackford, the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, of not listening, when he said the Government’s new aid commitments to Afghanistan had “thrown into sharp focus the disaster of the overseas development cuts”.
Blackford replied: “When the rest of us were doing what we can over the course of the last few days, the Foreign Secretary was lying on a sunbed, so I am not going to take any lectures from someone like him.
“People are facing the worst situation imaginable and you have a Foreign Secretary that is sitting laughing and joking on the Government front bench, a Foreign Secretary that should be ashamed of himself, that is demonstrating he has absolutely no dignity whatsoever.”
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Blackford had earlier said: “This crisis has also thrown into sharp focus the disaster of the overseas development cuts rammed through before the summer recess, and you know, when the Prime Minister talks about the increase in spending in Afghanistan, it still doesn’t take us to the level of spending that was previously committed.”
Raab then addressed the SNP Westminster leader directly, saying: “Do you not listen?”
“The person who’s not listening – maybe he’s still on holiday – is the Foreign Secretary,” Blackford told Raab.
As Raab interrupted Blackford, the SNP MP replied: “I know he’s trying to wind me up.”
After his “sunbed” comment, fellow SNP MPs could be heard saying “careful Ian”.
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