*STATEMENT ON AFGHANISTAN*

The situation in Afghanistan is shocking and worsening by the hour. It has been absolutely heart-breaking to see the sheer number of people having to flee their home country.

The priority must be for the UK Government to accelerate efforts to get UK nationals and eligible Afghans out of the country. I strongly support the deployment of troops to Kabul to provide security and capacity to do this.

This protection must also be extended to support Afghans who now find themselves at real risk having supported British efforts over the last 20 years. These include those working for subcontractors of the UK Government.

More broadly there are very serious questions about the failed political and development strategy of the last ten years.

The UK Government has been silent as Afghanistan collapses and it is only right that Parliament has been recalled on Wednesday.

I will be in the House of Commons hoping to speak in the statement, and will be listening closely to the UK Government’s plans to work with allies to avoid a humanitarian crisis. I also hope to see a strategy to prevent Afghanistan becoming once again an operational hub for international terrorism that threatens our national security.

My thoughts remain with the Afghan people at this extraordinarily difficult time.