Parliamentary reporter @TrinderMatt

LABOUR joined with opposition parties today to demand that Dominic Raab step down or be sacked over his “catastrophic failure of judgement” during the Afghanistan crisis.

It emerged today that the Foreign Secretary was advised to phone his Afghan counterpart a week ago to seek help in evacuating Afghan interpreters, but reportedly gave the vital job to a junior minister.

MPs reacted angrily, saying the decision – taken two days before the capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban – had put lives at risk as the country’s new rulers are likely to target anyone who helped Western occupiers.

Mr Raab had already been criticised for not returning from his holiday in a luxury Crete hotel until early on Monday morning, after the Afghan government had already collapsed.

The Ministry of Defence is also furious that the Foreign Office evacuated its own officials first, leaving squaddies to process complex visa paperwork as insurgents closed in.

Labour shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: “How can Boris Johnson allow the Foreign Secretary to continue in his role after yet another catastrophic failure of judgement?

“If Dominic Raab doesn’t have the decency to resign, the Prime Minister must show a shred of leadership and sack him.”

Scottish National Party Westminster leader Ian Blackford agreed, saying Mr Raab had made “a massive error of judgement.”

“His position is completely untenable and he must resign, or be sacked,” Mr Blackford tweeted.

Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey also tweeted that “Raab must go,” while Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts demanded his removal for “mishandling of duties.”

Mr Raab, who has so far refused to resign, claimed he had been directing his team and “engaging with international partners” while away. 

According to the Daily Mail newspaper, the Esher & Walton MP was advised by senior Foreign Office officials that he should make contact with Afghan foreign minister Hanif Atmar to get urgent assistance in rescuing Afghan interpreters who had worked for the British military.

Officials said it was important that the call was made by him rather than a junior minister, but they were told that the former Brexit secretary was unavailable.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace attempted to defend his Cabinet colleague, telling BBC Breakfast that “the only thing that mattered” last week was whether Taliban fighters would take over Kabul airport. 

“No amount of phone calls to an Afghan government at that time would have made any difference,” he suggested.

In response, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “Who wouldn’t make a phone call if they were told it could save somebody's life?”

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds tweeted: “This is a dereliction of duty. Failing to make a call has put the lives of brave interpreters at risk, after they served so bravely with our military. Utterly shameful.”

The row follows a wave of criticism from MPs on all sides on Wednesday over the government’s response to events in Afghanistan, during an emergency sitting of the House of Commons.

Most said that Britain had a responsibility to take many more refugees than the 20,000 proposed over the next five years by the PM, especially considering the threat posed by the Taliban to women, girls and LGBT people.

In a letter to Mr Raab and Home Secretary Priti Patel today, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady urged them to do “everything [they] can to ensure that those fleeing persecution in Afghanistan are able to claim asylum in the UK.”

Ms O’Grady said she was concerned about the Tory government’s Nationality and Borders Bill, currently before Parliament, which will make it harder for asylum-seekers, including those from Afghanistan, to seek protection, employment rights and healthcare in Britain.

The widely condemned legislation seeks to take the unprecedented step of criminalising asylum-seekers who arrive via “unofficial routes,” with deportation or jail time a possibility for those seeking sanctuary.

Scottish Refugee Council chief executive Sabir Zazai called on ministers to make a commitment not to return refugees and to give as many as possible safe passage.

Mr Zazai, who came to Britain from Afghanistan in the back of a lorry in 1999, said: “Maybe a woman with a child arrives through the resettlement programme and they get all the right support, but if that same woman arrived with a child in Dover, we don’t want her to end up in prison.

“Certainly next year many attempting dangerous sea crossings will be Afghans because over three million people are internally displaced and this will include unaccompanied children and families.”

Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe slammed the government’s refugee plans as “simply not good enough.

“There should be no cap, we must abandon arbitrary limits and instead accept refugees and asylum-seekers based on need.

“The government’s callous approach must be abandoned, along with the devastating Nationalities and Borders Bill, and replaced by a fair and welcoming system for refugees.”

Communist Party of Britain general secretary Robert Griffiths said: “Capitalism means continual conflict, war, disease and environmental degradation.

“Rosa Luxemburg’s prophetic words that humanity’s choice is  ‘socialism or barbarism’ are more relevant than ever.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said the department has been closely monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and “urgently updating asylum claims policy.”

Enforced returns of Afghans already in Britain have been paused until further notice, she added.