Afghanistan

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:39 pm on 20 April 2021.

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Photo of Julian Lewis Julian Lewis Chair, Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament 12:39, 20 April 2021

I know that the Minister will take back the very strong feelings expressed on both sides of the House that interpreters and other locally employed civilians must not be abandoned to a terrible fate at the hands of our enemies.

When the Minister says that the military process is over, does he not realise that the only thing that will prevent the Taliban from going back to the position they were in before we intervened 20 years will be the threat that if they try to overthrow the Government, they themselves will face a military consequence—if necessary, from outside the borders of the country? If he rules that out, he is basically giving them carte blanche.