'He’s a proven liar. Yet more proof'.
Boris Johnson has once again found himself at the centre of allegations he lied, after emails suggested that the prime minister did personally authorise the evacuation of 173 dogs and cats from Afghanistan. He had previously insisted that he played no role in the evacuation of the animals.
The bombshell emails contradict claims made by the prime minister last year, when he said that it was “complete nonsense” that the Government prioritised saving animals over people during the emergency airlift from Kabul in August.
The prime minister had been accused of giving an order to save animals from Nowzad, a charity run by ex-marine Pen Farthing, as the country fell to the Taliban. Following the allegations Johnson and Downing Street claimed that the claims were ‘entirely untrue’.
The latest emails were published as part of evidence from the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee which is looking into the government’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis.
Dated 25th August, the email was sent by a foreign office official working for Lord Goldsmith to the department’s “special cases” team regarding the possible evacuation of an unnamed animal charity.
The email states: “Equivalent charity 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, (animal charity redacted) are hoping to be treated in the same capacity”.
Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi tweeted in response to the story: “FCDO emails released today prove this to be a lie.’
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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