Denton MP Andrew Gwynne has slammed the government's "lack of preparedness" over the situation in Afghanistan as "totally unacceptable" and insists politicians must "step up and take responsibility" to help Afghan people. 

The Taliban have been advancing across Afghanistan over the past few months, but their progress accelerated after US President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of his country's troops - a decision he has since defended. 

Efforts to evacuate UK and other foreign citizens from Afghanistan are ongoing as the Taliban continue to strengthen their grip on the country. 

The UK has agreed to take in up to 20,000 refugees over the next few years, including 5,000 this year.

Parliament was recalled on Wednesday (18 August) for MPs to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan but no vote is expected.

During the emergency debate in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Nato's "core mission" in Afghanistan has "succeeded", with the country being largely cleared of al-Qaeda terrorists. He also said that allied forces had also ensured better education, women's rights and free elections.

In a lengthy statement, Denton and Reddish's Labour MP Gwynne says the government must 'move quickly to protect those brave individuals who stood by and worked with the UK military for so many years'. 

He said: "I have watched the situation in Afghanistan unfold with horror and sadness. The fall of Kabul was as devastating as it was swift, and there are already incredibly concerning human rights reports emerging from the region.

"On 8 July, the Prime Minister stated that he could foresee “no military path to victory” for the Taliban. That statement now looks to be at best naïve, and at worst, wilfully misleading. The Taliban swept through Afghanistan with incredible speed, and the abrupt ceasing of military support in the region has left the Afghan people in an exceptionally perilous position.

"The priority must now be for the government to accelerate efforts to get UK nationals, support staff and Afghans who have served and worked alongside us out of the country. The lack of preparedness on the part of the UK government for this eventuality is totally unacceptable, and the government must move quickly to protect those brave individuals who stood by and worked with the UK military for so many years." 

Gwynne has also called for a global effort to tackle the refugee crisis and believes the impact of the Taliban taking over Afghanistan is also 'deeply concerning here at home'. 

He went on: "We also need to see an international response to tackle the scale of the refugee crisis that will occur in the wake of the crisis. Britain must help lead that effort by committing to a British Afghanistan Resettlement Programme, a programme that must be both accessible and reflect the scale of the crisis.

"This year, harsh cuts to the aid budget by the Conservative Government have already seen the UK contribution to the Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan cut by 76 per cent, and the crisis reserve fund cut from £500m to £30m. The abrupt withdrawal of UK aid assistance is not only a moral failure, but also represents a decline of the UK on the world stage and greatly reduces the ability of the UK to have its interests represented overseas.

"The impact of the Taliban regaining control of Afghanistan is not only deeply concerning to the people of Afghanistan, but also here at home. The purpose of initial military intervention in Afghanistan was to tackle the increasing power of terrorist groups in the region, and to halt the growing rise of narcotics arriving to western shores from Afghanistan. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan threatens to undo that vital work." 

MP Gwynne has thanked all military personnel who served in Afghanistan, saying their 'bravery will never be forgotten'. 

He added: "As this crisis continues to unfold, and the government scrambles to react to a situation which it should have prepared for, I would like to take a moment to thank all our military personnel who served in Afghanistan.

"Your actions have enabled many people in Afghanistan, particularly women and girls, to reclaim freedoms that had long been lost under Taliban rule, and you have consequently made us safer here at home. 457 UK service personnel have lost their lives over the last 20 years, and your bravery will never be forgotten.

"The events over the last few weeks represent a political failure, and it now needs to be politicians who step up and take responsibility. We must not abandon the people of Afghanistan, nor should we pretend that the consequences of foreign policy failure will not impact us here at home." 

Fellow Tameside and Labour MP Jonathan Reynolds, who represents the Stalybridge and Hyde constituency, told us that the five soldiers from Tameside who lost their lives in the Afghanistan conflict had 'not died in vain' whilst expressing his sense of "anger and grief" at how the situation in the country had deteriorated so quickly. 

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