THE Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and a lack of diversity at the BBC were discussed by columnists and contributors in the newspapers.

The Daily Express

Leo McKinstry said it was a terrible irony that that on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Kabul will ‘almost certainly be back in the Taliban’s merciless hands.’

“As Parliament is recalled this week to discuss the crisis, the Government is accused of presiding over the biggest foreign policy humiliation since the Suez crisis of 1956,” he said. “Over the last 20 years, Britain is estimated to have spent almost £40billion in Afghanistan, while 456 of our brave personnel have lost their lives in the struggle, yet those heroic sacrifices tragically look like they were made in vain.!

He said even those who are shaken by the prospect of a jihadist takeover must answer the question: how much longer should the West’s military forces have stayed in Afghanistan?

“Liberal intervention is a thoroughly discredited policy. We have enough of our own domestic problems without taking on open-ended overseas commitments. In 1922, at the zenith of the British Empire, Tory leader Bonar Law declared that Britain could not be “the policeman of the world”. That is even more true today.”

The Guardian

Antonio Giustoziz, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, London, said the Taliban’s takeover was ‘a disaster foretold, even if its actual speed surprised everybody.’

“There is little doubt that the existing laws will be repealed, but it is not clear how far back the Taliban will try to turn the clock,” he said. “Since most of the neighbouring countries want stability in Afghanistan, at least for the time being any fissures in the new coalition government are unlikely to be exploited by external actors to create rifts. Similarly, the 2021 losers will struggle to find anybody willing or able to support them in starting some kind of resistance. As long as the new coalition government includes key allies of its neighbours, this is the beginning of a new phase in the history of Afghanistan.”

The Daily Mail

Dan Wootton said internal warfare has been raging at the ‘increasingly woke BBC’ about Huw Edwards stranglehold on the corporation’s flagship bulletin, News At Ten.

“One household name BBC News presenter told me recently: ‘It’s outrageous that Huw is still in place at the News at Ten and there is a major push underway to get him to stand down and take a reduced role.’”, he said.

“Speaking to various sources within the BBC it’s clear the identity politics their reporters regularly promote on screen has had a big influence behind-the-scenes.

“Often it seems like one’s demographics are more important than their talent.”