London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 03, 2025

Afghanistan: Top UK official regrets holiday as country fell to Taliban

Afghanistan: Top UK official regrets holiday as country fell to Taliban

The Foreign Office's most senior civil servant said he regrets continuing his summer holiday while Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.

Sir Philip Barton remained on holiday for 11 days after the Taliban seized Kabul, returning the day before the UK ended its evacuation of civilians.

It comes after a whistleblower said the UK evacuation had been chaotic and dysfunctional.

Sir Philip told MPs his presence would not have led to more people evacuated.

The UK airlifted 15,000 people out of Afghanistan, after the Taliban took control of the capital Kabul in August, including 5,000 British nationals, 8,000 Afghans and 2,000 children.

But whistleblower Raphael Marshall said up to 150,000 at-risk Afghans applied to be evacuated - and fewer than 5% received any assistance.

In written evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Marshall said some of those left behind had since been murdered by the Taliban.
Speaking to the committee on Tuesday, Sir Philip said it was not clear Kabul would fall so quickly - but he refused to say when he booked his holiday.

"If I had my time again I would have come back from my leave earlier than I did," Sir Philip told MPs several times.

On one occasion, Sir Philip was interrupted by committee chairman and Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who told him: "It sounds less credible every time you repeat it. It sounds platitudinous."

And Conservative MP Alicia Kearns told the senior civil servant: "I don't think it is enough to say, 'mea culpa'. How in two weeks did at no point, you go, 'I can't, I have to go in and protect my people'?"

Sir Philip, who is the permanent-under secretary at the Foreign Office, insisted cover arrangements were in place and he had "stayed in touch with the department all the way through the period".

His leave partly coincided with that of the then foreign secretary Dominic Raab, the prime minister and other key civil servants.

Sir Philip said he did not "recognise" claims by Mr Marshall that civil servants dealing with the evacuation only worked office hours and worked from home.

"There isn't a clocking-off culture in the [department]," he said.

Elsewhere in the session, Labour MP Chris Bryant confronted Sir Philip and two other senior officials with a letter he said appeared to suggest charity workers and animals were cleared for evacuation from Afghanistan by Boris Johnson.

The letter was reportedly from Mr Johnson's aide Trudy Harrison MP to animal charity boss Pen Farthing.

The prime minister previously denied intervening to help the charity - and the three senior civil servants repeatedly said pets were not prioritised over people.

Downing Street later said Ms Harrison was acting in her capacity as a constituency MP.

After the session, Mr Tugendhat said there had been a "lack of leadership, urgency and adequate resourcing" in the evacuation from Kabul.

What did the whistleblower say?


The key issues flagged by Mr Marshall, a former senior desk officer who has since quit, include:

* Nobody in the team dealing with requests had studied, had any detailed knowledge of Afghanistan, or had ever worked there

* No one spoke any Afghan languages, with calls to people asking for help conducted in English

* Decisions about who to rescue were arbitrary, and thousands of emails pleading for assistance were not even read

* The IT system was dysfunctional, with eight soldiers drafted in to help left sharing one computer

* Dominic Raab was slow to make decisions on difficult cases and did not fully understand the situation

* Animals from the Nowzad charity run by a former Marine were not in danger and evacuating them was at the direct expense of people at risk of death.

Mr Raab told the BBC lessons would be learned but the UK did a good job compared to other countries.

He said the two-week evacuation was "the biggest operation in living memory" of its kind and the UK had helped a larger number of people than any nation except the US.

The former foreign secretary, who is now justice secretary, said the criticism of his decision-making was from a "relatively junior desk officer" but the main challenges were in verifying the identities of applicants on the ground and safely escorting them to the airport in Kabul, not in making decisions from Whitehall.


Sir Philip Barton was grilled by MPs about his holiday plans


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Germany Votes to Suspend Family Reunification for Asylum Seekers
Elon Musk Critiques Senate Budget Proposal Over Job Losses and Strategic Risks
Los Angeles Riots ended with Federal Investigations into Funding
Budapest Pride Parade Draws 200,000 Participants Amid Government Ban
Southern Europe Experiences Extreme Heat
Xiaomi's YU7 SUV Launch Garners Record Pre-Orders Amid Market Challenges
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's Lavish Wedding in Venice
Russia Launches Largest Air Assault on Ukraine Since Invasion
Education Secretary Announces Overhaul of Complaints System Amid Rising Parental Grievances
Massive Anti-Government Protests Erupt in Belgrade
Trump Ends Trade Talks with Canada Over Digital Services Tax
UK Government Softens Welfare Reform Plans Amid Labour Party Rebellion
Labour Faces Rebellion Over Disability Benefit Reforms Ahead of Key Vote
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Host Lavish Wedding in Venice Amid Protests
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
North Korea to Open New Beach Resort to Boost Tourism Economy
UK Labour Party Faces Internal Tensions Over Welfare Reforms
Andrew Cuomo Hints at Potential November Comeback Amid Democratic Primary Results
Curtis Sliwa Champions His Vision for New York City Amid Rising Crime Concerns
Federal Reserve Proposes Changes to Capital Rule Affecting Major Banks
EU TO HUNGARY: LET THEM PRIDE OR PREP FOR SHADE. ORBÁN TO EU: STAY IN YOUR LANE AND FIX YOUR OWN MESS.
Trump Escalates Criticism of Media Over Iran Strike Coverage
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
Big Four Accounting Firms Fined in Exam Cheating Scandal
NATO Members Agree to 5% Defense Spending Target by 2035
Australia's Star Casino Secures $195 Million Rescue Package Amid Challenges
UK to Enhance Nuclear Capabilities with Acquisition of F-35A Fighter Jets
×