Boris Johnson has dismissed claims he approved the airlift of animals out of Afghanistan, saying they are “total rhubarb”, as Sky News obtained more emails which call into question the government’s account.
Leaked messages appear to show that the prime minister‘s top parliamentary aide, Trudy Harrison, told Virgin Atlantic her efforts to secure a plane to evacuate animals from Kabul were backed by the government and that permissions would be “fast-tracked”.
But speaking during a visit to Wales on Thursday, Mr Johnson said: “I can tell you that the military always prioritised human beings and that was quite right.”
Fresh questions about the government’s account began to be raised on Wednesday after the emergence of new whistleblower emails which were released by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
The committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the government’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis, disclosed communications which suggest the PM did personally authorise rescue efforts for pets and animals.
On 25 August 2021, an official working for Foreign Office minister Lord Goldsmith sent an email to the Foreign Office “special cases” team regarding the possible evacuation of an unnamed animal charity.
In it, the official writes: “Equivalent charity Nowzad, run by an ex-Royal Marine, has received a lot of publicity and the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated, [animal charity – name redacted] are hoping to be treated in the same capacity.”
This appears to support claims made last year in written evidence by whistleblower Raphael Marshall, a desk officer at the Foreign Office, that the department “received an instruction from the prime minister” to use “considerable capacity” to help animals…
Source : skynews
