BORIS Johnson appeared to rule out a public inquiry into the UK's actions in Afghanistan as he opened the debate on the crisis in the Commons.
Speaking in a packed chamber, the Prime Minister said the UK was doing everyhting possible to get people out of the country safely.
He said: "It’s almost 20 years since the US suffered the most catastrophic attack on its people since the Second World War, in which 67 British citizens also lost their lives at the hands of murderous terrorist groups incubated in Afghanistan.
READ MORE: Priti Patel says scheme to resettle 20,000 vulnerable Afghans in UK 'could be expanded'
“In response, Nato invoked Article 5 of its treaty for the first and only time in its history and the UK, amongst others, joined America in going into Afghanistan on a mission to extirpate al Qaeda in that country and to do whatever we could to stabilise Afghanistan, in spite of all the difficulties and challenges we knew we would face and we succeeded in that core mission.
Afghanistan debate LIVE: House of Commons recalled to discuss crisis https://t.co/aRRtNbIctR
— The Herald (@heraldscotland) August 18, 2021
“We will be doing everything to support those who have helped the UK mission in Afghanistan and investing everything we can to support the wider area around Afghanistan – and to do everything we can to avert a humanitarian crisis.”
Mr Johnson was asked by Tory MP Tobias Ellwood if he would "now agree to an independent formal inquiry into the conduct in Afghanistan."
READ MORE: Afghanistan: Johnson and Merkel hold crisis talks as Blackford calls for refugee programme
The Prime Minister appeared to dismiss this suggestion, however, responding:" Just a few weeks ago there was an extensive defence review about Afghanistan after the combat mission ended in 2014 and I believe that most of the key questions have already been extensively got in to."
His predecessor, Theresa May, sked Mr Johnson when he first spoke with the Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg about replacing the American troops, when it became clear the US were intending to withdraw.
Mr Johnson said he spoke to Mr Stoltenberg "the other day about NATO's continuing role in Afghanistan", adding: "I really think that it is an illusion to believe that there is appetite amongst any of our partners for a continued military presence or ongoing military solution..."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel