THE SNP has demanded a total recall of Parliament, accusing Boris Johnson of trying to avoid scrutiny of his Afghanistan plans.
The party’s Westminster leader said it would be “unacceptable” for Parliament to remain in recess for another two weeks given the growing tensions in the country.
Ian Blackford said UK ministers should be updating MPs on a daily basis about what is happening in Afghanistan, with the deadline for withdrawal now one week away.
He has written to Boris Johnson urging a recall of Parliament.
The Prime Minister is expected to ask US President Joe Biden to extend the deadline at a meeting of G7 leaders this afternoon, however sources say it is unlikely he will oblige.
Mr Blackford, the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber said: “The UK Parliament must be recalled immediately so MPs can properly scrutinise the UK government's plans to evacuate Afghanistan and tackle the humanitarian crisis.
"It beggars belief that Westminster is still in recess, when our troops and personnel are putting their lives on the line dealing with one of the biggest foreign policy disasters of modern times.
"Now that the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have returned from their own holidays, it is essential that UK ministers provide daily updates to Parliament and that plans for the evacuation, refugee resettlement, and tackling the humanitarian crisis can be fully scrutinised on an ongoing basis.
"It would be unacceptable for Boris Johnson to keep Parliament on leave until 6th September to avoid scrutiny, when it is essential that Parliament is allowed to get on with its job."
This morning UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the government was doing everything it could to evacuate British nationals and at-risk Afghans from Kabul, but warned that not everyone would get out who needed to.
He said the chances of the US extending the deadline were “slim” and added: “Of course we’d like it, we’d want it, we’ve talked about it with our allies, the G7 will no doubt talk about it today.
“I look at the public statements by President Biden, I listen to what the Taliban said yesterday to the media, and I think it is unlikely. That’s why we’ve been planning for the worst, of course we hope for the best.
“It’s also why, internally, we’ve changed some of our own timings about withdrawing our military forces.
“Originally, about a week and a half ago, the timescale to draw out our military was about 120 hours. We’ve managed to cut that significantly, and every hour we save in taking out our own military is an hour we can process more Afghan claimants and people under the scheme.
“Every hour matters.”
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