Afghanistan: Senior Conservative attacks top official's holiday during crisis

Image source, PA Media

A senior Conservative has attacked the Foreign Office's top civil servant for staying on holiday as the Taliban advanced on Kabul.

Tom Tugendhat - chairman of the foreign affairs committee - likened it to a "general not coming back" for a battle.

He said it was "unthinkable" for the Foreign Office's permanent secretary Sir Philip Barton to be away.

Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said criticism of his officials was "unwarranted".

Appearing in front of Mr Tugendhat's committee, Mr Raab argued it was right for Sir Philip to take leave and that the department had made sure "the right cover was in place".

Mr Raab, who was on holiday in Crete, has also faced criticism for not returning to the UK sooner.

He said he was able to continue working while abroad, but that "with hindsight" he would not have gone away.

But despite being pushed by MPs, he declined to say when exactly he went on holiday.

Speaking to the 大象传媒's Political Thinking podcast with Nick Robinson, Mr Tugendhat - who served as a soldier in Afghanistan - praised some of the UK's diplomats as "extraordinarily capable" and "genuinely world class".

However, he added: "When you see secure documents or other personal information left in the embassy in Kabul... when you see the senior civil servant remain on holiday at the moment of extraordinary foreign policy crisis, you wonder what matters to you".

He said it was "more shocking" for Sir Philip to be away than for the foreign secretary.

"Can you imagine in a battle, the general not coming back - I mean, it's unthinkable, it's completely unthinkable," he added.

Video caption, Tugendhat: I haven't slept much since Taliban takeover

Mr Tugendhat said he was also on holiday when the Afghanistan government fell, but switched to working "20 hour days" once the situation escalated.

He said he had received calls in the middle of the night from people in Afghanistan who were struggling to get out of the country and spoke of his frustration at not being able to do more to help.

Comparing life as a soldier to life as an MP, he said: "I used to say go and they went, I said come and they came - now all I do is shout like a voice in the wilderness."