Top official at Foreign Office called upon to resign over Kabul withdrawal

[SydneyRover]

I wonder what will save raaab? this is wilful incompetence of the highest order .............

''The report from the foreign affairs select committee said the absence of leadership – both ministerial and official, including the permanent secretary, Sir Philip Barton – when Kabul fell was inexcusable and a grave indictment on those supposedly in charge. It added that Barton failed to give candid evidence to the committee, and says as a result it had lost confidence in him. The committee also accused him of covering up political interference in the fast-tracking of some individuals out of Afghanistan''

Lack of honesty and candour is like a burst polypipe sewer line running through government, infecting all in its path.

''The committee said that while junior officials at the Foreign Office (FCDO) demonstrated courage and integrity, chaotic and arbitrary decision-making marked the planning and execution of the evacuation. “Sadly, it may have cost many people the chance to leave Afghanistan, putting lives in danger,” the report said.

It also found that senior officials were intentionally evasive and often deliberately misleading to parliament, noting: “The integrity of the civil service depends on those leading these organisations showing the courage to tell the truth to the British people.”

The report, one of the most damning to be issued by a select committee under the Conservative government, also extends criticism to the then foreign secretary, Dominic Raab. “It might be convenient to blame FCDO officials or military intelligence for these failures, but ministers should have been driving this policy,” it said.

''“The fact that the Foreign Office’s senior leaders were on holiday when Kabul fell marks a fundamental lack of seriousness, grip or leadership at a time of national emergency''

The all-party committee, which is chaired by the Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, said answers given by senior officials were “at best intentionally evasive, and often deliberately misleading”. It said: “Those who lead the department should be ashamed that civil servants of great integrity felt compelled to risk their careers to bring to light the appalling mismanagement of the crisis, and the misleading statements to parliament that followed.”

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/24/top-official-at-foreign-office-called-upon-to-resign-over-kabul-withdrawal-sir-philip-barton-dominic-raab

[BobG]

And STILL that clown won't do the decent thing...

BobG