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Boris Johnson backs Foreign Office chief despite ‘disastrous’ Kabul evacuation
Home Secretary Priti Patel (2nd left) talking to Malalai Hussiny (wearing green headscarf) a refugee from Afghanistan who arrived on an evacuation flight at Heathrow Airport, London. Picture date Thursday August 26, 2021

BORIS JOHNSON has backed the Foreign Office’s top civil servant after MPs demanded his resignation over “deep failures” during last year’s “disastrous” Kabul airlift. 

The foreign affairs committee published a damning report today, identifying “systemic failures” of planning, intelligence and diplomacy as the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.

The report was particularly scathing about Sir Philip Barton, who is accused of displaying a “determination to avoid earthing the facts” during its inquiry into the British withdrawal from the country. 

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