Sir Keir Starmer has warned the Afghanistan crisis ‘undermines the legacy of British soldiers’ and raises the terror threat as he suggests Britain cannot ‘turn our backs on the country.
The Taliban is now fighting Afghan Government forces just seven miles from Kabul as UK troops head to the capital to evacuate Britons before militants overwhelm the country.
Discussing the unfolding scenes in the country, Sir Starmer told Sky News: ‘We have obligations to Afghanistan, we made promises to Afghanistan, and we cannot just walk away and let this turn into a humanitarian crisis, and probably a refugee crisis as well.’ The Labour leader’s words come as Boris Johnson said on Thursday night that it is not ‘realistic’ to expect outside powers to impose a ‘combat solution’ on Afghanistan as the Taliban’s surging advance closes on Kabul and British and US troops start to arrive to evacuate Westerners.
