Dominic Raab ‘ignored’ a call about stranded Afghan scholars on Saturday.
The Herald understands the SNP leader Ian Blackford attempted to contact the Foreign Secretary at around 5pm but received no reply.
Sources say the MP was then ”fobbed off” by Raab in a follow-up text four hours later, saying he should speak with junior minister James Cleverley the following day.
Mr Blackford had been trying to reach him to discuss the plight of the Chevening scholars – a group of 35 Afghan students who had been given prestigious scholarships to study in the UK, but who had been told they would be deferred for a year.
Since the Taliban took Kabul on Sunday, the UK Government has reversed its decision with Boris Johnson pledging on Monday to get them out of the country.
Mr Raab has come under intense scrutiny over the past week, after it emerged he was on holiday in a luxury Crete hotel as the militant group advanced on Afghanistan’s capital.
He failed to follow the advice of his aides when they said he, personally, should contact his Afghan counterpart Hanif Amrat on Saturday to ask for help in evacuating interpreters.
The call was delegated to junior minister Zac Goldsmith, however it emerged today that it was never made – with Mr Raab saying the Afghan minister agreed to take the call but was "unable to because of the rapidly deteriorating situation."
The SNP, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru have all called for his resignation, arguing he did not perform his “basic duty” as a Foreign Secretary while remaining on holiday as the crisis unfolded.
However Mr Raab, and other ministers, have defended the decision and insist he was still working while on holiday – despite reports that he was sunbathing and playing beach games.
A senior SNP source told The Herald Mr Raab ignoring Mr Blackford’s call raised questions about what other contact he did not respond to.
They said: “It beggars belief that when Afghanistan was falling, Dominic Raab was too busy relaxing on a sun lounger at a luxury five-star resort to fulfil the basic duties of his role.
"The Foreign Secretary should have been leading efforts to protect our troops, interpreters and vulnerable Afghan citizens but instead he abandoned them and jetted off on holiday - putting people's lives at risk.
"It speaks volumes that while Ian Blackford spent his weekend making calls to get help for vulnerable Afghan citizens - the Foreign Secretary was sunning himself in Crete and telling officials he was ‘unavailable’ for his job.”
They added: “If Raab refused to pick up the phone to help our interpreters get to safety - ignoring the advice of his own officials - and also failed to pick up the phone to discuss the plight of the Afghan Chevening students, it makes you wonder how many other important calls and decisions he dodged.
"Raab's position is completely untenable. If he doesn't resign he has to be sacked."
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment
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