AN SNP MP has challenged the Foreign Secretary over his movements when the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

Stewart McDonald, the SNP's defence spokesman, was questioning Dominic Raab during a tense session of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee this afternoon.

Mr Raab accused the MP of being "partisan" by asking him when he went on holiday, which garnered much criticism earier this month. 

The cabinet minister was away in Crete on August 15 when Kabul fell to the militant group, however he has insisted he continued to take phone calls from his hotel room.

Mr McDonald asked when Mr Raab first went on holiday, however the Foreign Secretary refused to anser.

He said: "I've listened carefully to what you've said in media interviews and what else about the various calls you were engaged in as you were on holiday and I think it's important that the people do take holidays, but it's also important to know when to cut them short.

"Again, for the sake of transparency of your own actions, when did you go on holiday, what date did you go on holiday? 
"I'm not interested in what you did there. What date did you go?" 

Mr Raab said he had "made a full statement" on the matter, but pressed again by Mr McDonald the foreign secretary said he was making a "politically partisan" point. 

Mr McDonald later said that all military leave had been cancelled from July 23, and asked if the same policy had been brought in at the Foreign Office. 

Mr Raab replied that there had been no such policy, but said that his department had devised a "rota system" as they did not know how long the situation would continue. 

Mr McDonald responded: "I think maybe would think that if all military leave was cancelled on the 23rd of July was a bad idea for yourself, the Prime Minister, and several other officials in the FCDO, the Home Office and the MoD to take breaks at that time, but I'll leave it at that." 

The SNP MP also questioned Mr Raab on when he spoke to various UK ambassadors in countries neighbouring Afghanistan, but Mr Raab did not provide details.

He said he had a "whole call sheet" with him, but added: "As I said before, the advice from the ambassadors, and they will often attend the meeting that we have internally within the Foreign Office crisis centre, is distilled down so we have a single posting.

"I was engaged with the FCDO crisis response team, including the director, the director general, on the Cobra meetings, including of course with Laurie [Bristow - the UK Ambassador to Afghanistan], and frankly your point about NATO FM's, the NATO meetings, the G7 meetings - there were critical."

Mr McDonald said it was important for the public and MPs to know where Mr Raab had been and who he had been in touch with "as the situation got worse and worse" in Afghanistan, and it was "absurd" that he was not answering his questions.