British PM Boris Johnson had previously said that he had no involvement in the evacuation of animals from Afghanistan last year.
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson did authorise the evacuation of animals from Kabul
during the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, a
claim he has previously dismissed as “nonsense”.
Johnson, whose premiership is under immense pressure over
allegations of parties at his Downing Street office during
Covid-19 lockdowns, has denied any involvement in the decision
to help evacuate the cats and dogs of the Nowzad animal rescue
charity run by former British soldier Paul “Pen” Farthing.
The pets were rescued amid the chaotic scramble last August
to help British nationals and Afghans eligible for resettlement
in Britain leave Kabul after it fell to the Taliban.
But an internal government email released by parliament’s
foreign affairs committee, a foreign office official, whose name
is redacted, wrote: “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…”
In another email discussing a different charity’s request
for help, an official wrote: “In light of the PM’s decision
earlier today to evacuate the staff of the Nowzad animal
charity, the (redacted name) is asking for agreement to the
entry of (details redacted) staff, all Afghan nationals.”
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‘Complete nonsense’
At the time, Johnson said he had no involvement in the
evacuation of Farthing’s animals.
“No, that’s complete nonsense,” he said in December, when
asked if he had intervened in the case.
Johnson’s spokesman said he had not seen the emails, but
repeated that the prime minister had not been involved.
“I know that the defence secretary yesterday made clear that
at no stage .. did the prime minister ask him to make way for
the pets, that no one jumped the queue and obviously we’ve made
clear previously that the prime minister did not instruct
officials to take any particular course of action,” he said.
The plight of Farthing and his animals attracted much media attention in Britain, and led to a bitter row with defence minister Ben Wallace who said he could not allow anyone to jump the queue and would not prioritise pets over people.
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Source: Reuters
UK govt emails suggest Johnson authorised animal evacuations from Kabul
Source: Pinay Pop Showbiz
