Second Special Report - Missing in action: UK leadership and the withdrawal from Afghanistan: Government Response to the Committee’s First Report

This is the government's response, published 29 July 2022.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government accepts that parts of its crisis response need improvement and agrees on future engagement with Afghanistan, but does not agree that it failed to plan for an evacuation or for closing the Kabul Embassy.

• It states that it "does not agree that it failed to plan for a possible evacuation", or that the FCDO failed to plan for the possible closure of the British Embassy in Kabul.
• On people not directly employed by the UK, it "will consider these arguments carefully" in planning years 2 and 3 of Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, but warns that very broad commitments would, "unless significantly qualified", go beyond the UK's practical ability to resettle people.
• The FCDO says it is "committed to seeing through the full implementation" of its Lessons Learned recommendations, with progress reviewed in November 2022 and an update to the Committee "early next year".
• On future engagement, it agrees that the UK should re-establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul "as soon as security and political conditions permit", and that aid should be sustained, committing the same amount again this financial year.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error