Boris is savaged by MPs on BOTH sides of packed Commons including Theresa May over 'catastrophic failure' amid fears Afghanistan will be 'breeding ground' for terror again – but PM blames Biden saying mission could not carry on without 'US might'

MPs hammered Boris Johnson over the 'catastrophic failure' in Afghanistan today - as the PM swiped at Joe Biden saying the 'successful' Afghan mission could not continue without 'American might'.

As the desperate evacuation effort continues in Kabul, the premier defended his handling of the chaos insisting there was a 'hard reality' as a result of the US stance.

Mr Johnson told the recalled chamber - packed out for the first time since last year after Covid restrictions were dropped - that the 'sacrifice' of British troops was 'seared into our national consciousness'. He said the 'core mission' had been achieved as Afghanistan had not been a hotbed for terrorism.

However, he was immediately assailed by Tories, with defence committee chair Tobias Ellwood saying the West had 'ceded the country to the very insurgents we went to defeat'. Theresa May said Afghanistan would now be a breeding ground for extremism, accusing the PM of operating 'on a wing and a prayer' and hoping it would be 'alright on the night'. Former chief whip Mark Harper said there had been a 'catastrophic failure'.

Labour leader Keir Starmer said the premier had displayed 'staggering complacency', pointing out that his last visit to Afghanistan as Foreign Secretary in 2018 had been a ploy to avoid a vote on Heathrow Airport expansion.

There were also calls for the government to go further and faster in providing safe haven for Afghans who face the threat of persecution under the new Taliban regime. Labour's Chris Bryant said only 5,000 of 20,000 refugees were set to be accepted this year, raging that the rest were being asked to 'hang around and wait until they have been executed'.

On the current airlift, Mr Johnson revealed that just 306 UK nationals and 2,052 Afghan nationals had been extracted so far - with thousands more still waiting.

Meanwhile, other Tory MPs branded Mr Biden 'shameful', with former soldier Tom Tugendhat condemning the criticism of Afghans' courage when the president has not seen service himself.

In an emotional speech which drew rare applause from some MPs, Mr Tugendhat also said the UK and its Western allies had received a 'very harsh lesson'.

Opening a bruising emergency debate, Mr Johnson said: 'The sacrifice in Afghanistan is seared into our national consciousness, with 150,000 people serving there from across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom – including a number of members on all sides of the House whose voices will be particularly important today.'

He added: 'As for our Nato allies and allies around the world, when it came for us to look at the options that this country might have in view of the American decision to withdraw we came up against this hard reality.

'That since 2009, America has deployed 98 per cent of all weapons released from Nato aircraft in Afghanistan and at the peak of the operation – where there were 132,000 troops on the ground – 90,000 of them were American.

'The West could not continue this US-led mission, a mission conceived and executed in support of America... without US logistics, without US airpower, and without American might.'

UK forces chief says US withdrawal 'shattered' Afghan morale

General Sir Nick Carter dismissed the president's claim that the Afghan army had lacked the stomach for battle

The head of UK forces today swiped at Joe Biden over the headlong US withdrawal from Afghanistan saying it 'shattered' the morale of local forces.

General Sir Nick Carter dismissed the president's claim that the Afghan army had lacked the stomach for battle, insisting they 'fought very bravely' until the West effectively walked out.

Sir Nick said as the government teetered on the verge of collapse he had been focused on 'giving confidence' to the country's military, which had been trained and equipped by the UK and US for two decades.

Pointing to the impact of the July 4 drawdown of US troops, the Chief of the Defence Staff said: 'They lost their air power. That was a very shattering moment in terms of their morale...

'What happened from 4th of July onwards, their morale was shattered.'

The comments came after Boris Johnson last night urged Mr Biden not to throw away the gains of the last 20 years following the chaotic US withdrawal.

Mr Johnson said the immediate focus was to get Britons and vulnerable Afghan allies out of Kabul.

'The situation has stabilised since the weekend but it remains precarious, and the UK officials on the ground are doing everything that they can to expedite the movement of people, those that need to come out, whether from the ARAP scheme or the eligible persons, to get from Kabul to the airport, and at the moment it would be fair to say that the Taliban are allowing that evacuation to go ahead,' he said.

He said 'the most important thing is that we get this done in as expeditious a fashion as we can and that is what we are doing'.

Intervening in Mr Johnson's speech, former PM Theresa May demanded details of his discussions on the 'possibility of putting together an alliance of other forces in order to replace the American support in Afghanistan'.

Mr Johnson replied: 'I really think that it is an illusion to believe that there is appetite amongst any of our partners for a continued military presence or for a military solution imposed by Nato in Afghanistan.

'That idea ended with the combat mission in 2014.

'And I do not believe that today deploying tens of thousands of British troops to fight the Taliban is an option that no matter how sincerely people may advocate it – and I appreciate their sincerity – but I do not believe that that is an option that would commend itself either to the British people or to this House.

'We must deal with the position as it is now is, accepting what we have achieved and what we have not achieved.'

In her own speech afterwards, Mrs May said: 'Was our intelligence really so poor? Was our understanding of the Afghan government so weak?

'Was our knowledge of our position on the ground so inadequate?

'Or did we just follow the United States, and hope that on a wing and a prayer it would be alright on the night.'

She added: 'It hasn't been alright on the night.'

When ex-Cabinet minister John Redwood interjected that the blame lay with Mr Biden, Mrs May said the US president had only 'upheld' a decision made by Donald Trump, noting: 'It was a unilateral decision of President Trump to do a deal with the Taliban that has led to this withdrawal.'

She added: 'I think it is absolutely essential for us to recognise the probability that Afghanistan will once again become a breeding ground for the terrorists who seek to destroy our way of life.'

The former prime minister also said it was 'a major setback for British foreign policy' nearly 20 years after UK forces first entered the country in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks on the US.

And Mr Tugendhat - who served in Afghanistan - said: 'This doesn't need to be defeat but at the moment it damn well feels like it.'

Meanwhile, Mr Ellwood said the collapse of Afghanistan was the result of 'an operational and strategic blunder'..

'What we require is the backbone, the courage, the leadership to step forward, yet when our moment comes such as this we are found wanting," he said.

'We are complicit in allowing another dictatorship to form as we become more isolationist.'

Mr Johnson acknowledged the sacrifice of the British forces who had served in the country since 2001, and said he was committed to working with allies to ensure it did not again become a centre of international terrorism.

He said: 'Even amid the heart-wrenching scenes we see today, I believe they should be proud of their achievements and we should be deeply proud of them.

How will the new resettlement scheme work and who will get priority?

The new Afghan resettlement programme is separate from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy , which grants haven to former interpreters and others who helped Western forces over the past 20 years.

It will be modelled on the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme which launched in 2014 in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The UNHCR identifies potential cases for the UK to consider and applicants are then vetted by British officials.

Priority will be given to women and girls, and religious and other minorities.

There will be a particular focus on whether people are at risk of human rights abuses and dehumanising treatment by the Taliban.

The UK can reject cases on 'security, war crimes or other grounds'.

Mr Tugendhat suggested the West and the UK had not shown patience, adding: 'This is a harsh lesson for all of us and if we're not careful it could be a very, very difficult lesson for our allies.

In a round of interviews earlier, Home Secretary Priti Patel dismissed criticism of the new resettlement scheme, saying it represents an 'enormous effort'.

Women, girls and those facing persecution will get priority as some 20,000 are granted the right to live in the UK – with 5,000 expected in the first year.

Meanwhile, Ms Patel said an existing programme designed to protect Afghan translators and other workers who were employed by British forces will be expanded from 5,000 people to around 10,000.

However, senior Conservatives have suggested that the UK should be accepting 'north of 50,000' refugees, and there has also been criticism of the pace.

Ms Patel said the circumstances were 'very difficult'.

'We have to ensure we have the support structures throughout the United Kingdom. We will be working with local councils throughout the country, the devolved governments as well,' she told Sky News.

'We are working quickly on this. We cannot accommodate 20,000 people all in one go. Currently we are bringing back almost 1,000 people a day.

'This is an enormous effort. We can't do this on our own. We have to work together.'

She insisted that it was right to set an initial figure of 20,000 for the coming years, although it could rise in the future.

'We have got to come up with the actual infrastructure, the support, the resettlement,' Ms Patel told BBC News.

'We are going to be working with all partners. We could end up bringing many more but first of all we have to have the underpinning and the infrastructure and the support to do that.'

Ms Patel said that double the 5,000 originally announced could be admitted under the existing Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy .

'There could be up to 10,000. We are expanding categories of people,' she said.

'We are working with the MoD on the ground. We are working with partners on the ground to identify these individuals.

NOW they tell us how appalled they are!

In a series of hand-wringing speeches, MPs on all sides of the house attacked Joe Biden and Boris Johnson over the fall of Kabul yesterday. But many of the strident speeches were by those who had barely spoken on the subject before.

THERESA MAY

The former PM branded the withdrawal from Afghanistan ‘a major setback for British foreign policy’. She said it was ‘incomprehensible and worrying’ that the Government had not been able to put together an ‘alternative alliance of countries’ to continue to support Afghanistan in the absence of US forces. She concluded: ‘The politicians sent them the there. The politicians decided to withdraw. The politicians must be responsible for the consequences.’ But despite her fiery rhetoric, astonishingly Mrs May has never spoken in a debate on Afghanistan before.

SIR KEIR STARMER

The Labour leader said: ‘The lack of planning is unforgivable and the Prime Minister bears a heavy responsibility. The Government’s preparation for withdrawal was based on a miscalculation of the resilience of the Afghan forces and a staggering complacency about the Taliban threat.’

But his Commons record reveals he has only mentioned the country twice. Once to criticise cuts in foreign aid, and another time to criticise Mr Johnson for avoiding a vote on Heathrow to make a trip to Afghanistan when foreign secretary.

SIR ED DAVEY

The Liberal Democrat leader castigated the PM for backing Donald Trump’s ‘flawed deal’ with the Taliban. He said: ‘From the Prime Minister’s self-evident lack of influence and clout in Washington, to his negligent inability, yet again, to master his brief and plan properly for the withdrawal, today’s occupant of No10 has become a national liability.’ But 12 years ago, Sir Ed called for ‘tea with the Taliban’ as part of a deal with the Islamists, and said fighters should be offered a ‘decent daily wage’ to get them to defect.

CAROLINE LUCAS

The Green Party MP said: ‘Watching the scenes at Kabul airport this week has left me and so many others with feelings of overwhelming grief and anger.’ She was previously a leading light in the Stop The War coalition and called for British troops to return home more than a decade ago.

LISA NANDY

The shadow foreign secretary wound up yesterday’s debate, attacking the Government over its failures in planning. But only last month she said British military presence in Afghanistan had ‘outlived its usefulness’. She also abstained on a 2010 vote on continuing UK deployment there.

'We are working night and day. I am sending in Home Office officials, Border Force officials, to the region to help support this scheme as well.'

The new Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme will focus on women and girls who fear their rights will be trampled under the 'Islamic Emirate' declared by the Taliban.

It will also offer help to those forced to flee their homes and to religious minorities in the country. They will be given the right to stay in the UK permanently.

A previous scheme for Syrian refugees cost about £8,000 per person – so the new commitments are likely to come with a huge price tag of up to £200million.

Earlier, the Chief of the Defence Staff gave his own damning verdict on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying it 'shattered' the morale of local forces.

General Sir Nick Carter dismissed the president's claim that the Afghan army had lacked the stomach for battle, insisting they 'fought very bravely' until the West effectively walked out.

Pointing to the impact of the July 4 drawdown of US troops, the Chief of the Defence Staff said: 'They lost their air power. That was a very shattering moment in terms of their morale...

'What happened from 4th of July onwards, their morale was shattered.'

The comments came after Mr Johnson last night urged Mr Biden in a telephone call not to throw away the gains of the last 20 years following the chaotic US withdrawal.

In a thinly veiled warning over the consequences of the US military retreat from Kabul, the Prime Minister reminded the President of the need to protect the West against terrorism.

It follows a wave of criticism from US media and British and European politicians following the Taliban's dramatic takeover.

It comes as the American media turned on Mr Biden yesterday over the botched withdrawal of troops.

The President had blamed the Afghans for not being prepared for the Taliban insurgents' rapid attack.

But his address to the American people on Monday night was slammed by media outlets and political commentators.

The Wall Street Journal described the speech as 'one of the most shameful in history by a commander in chief'.

In an editorial, the newspaper said the President had 'refused to accept responsibility for the botched withdrawal while blaming others', adding that the 'one group he conspicuously did not blame was the Taliban'.

In Monday's speech, Mr Biden said: 'I stand squarely behind my decision', and claimed that Afghanistan's political leaders and military were 'not willing to fight for themselves'.

'We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We could not provide them with the will to fight for that future.'

A Washington Post editorial said Mr Biden could have listened to the 'many seasoned hands' giving him alternatives to withdrawal, adding that him blaming others was 'unseemly' given that 2,448 US service members died in Afghanistan in 20 years.

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick. Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o

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