Calls For Britain's Foreign Secretary To Resign For Not Interrupting Holiday During Afghan Crisis

Britain's foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who was on a holiday on the Greek island of Crete, did not call his Afghan counterpart on Friday after officials suggested he 'urgently' do so in order to arrange help for those who supported British troops.

Associated Press

Updated on: 19 August 2021 6:13 pm

Britain's foreign secretary is rejecting calls to resign for not interrupting his holiday on the Greek island of Crete to make a call to help translators flee Afghanistan.

According to the Daily Mail newspaper, Dominic Raab did not call his Afghan counterpart Hanif Atmar on Friday after officials suggested he “urgently” do so in order to arrange help for those who supported British troops.

Two days later, the Taliban captured Kabul and Raab cut short his holiday and headed back to the U.K. to deal with the crisis.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told BBC radio that the suggested phone call would not have made “any difference whatsoever” given the Afghan government was “melting away quicker than ice."

Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter: “Who wouldn't make a phone call if they were told it could save somebody's life?”

Lisa Nandy, Labour's foreign affairs spokesperson, was one of many to call for Raab's resignation after what she described as “yet another catastrophic failure of judgment.”

On entering 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office, Raab was asked if he would resign. In response, he said “no.”

(AP)