The defence secretary has said it is a “total myth” that ex-Marine Paul “Pen” Farthing’s charter flight out of Kabul for his staff and animals was blocked.
In a seven-tweet thread published, Ben Wallace said that he “never said I would not facilitate. I said no one would get the queue jump”.
He claimed the issue was it can take over 24 hours for people to get processed and “there is no point turning up with a plane until the passengers/animals are airside”.
7. So can people now please let my civil servants and military get on with dealing with one of the most dangerous and challenging evacuations for a generation. As professionals they will do their best for all those eligible and with my full support.
— Rt. Hon Ben Wallace MP (@BWallaceMP) August 26, 2021
“There has been no ‘U-turn’. You can’t unblock something that was never blocked,” MR Wallace said.
“The bullying, falsehoods and threatening behaviour by some towards our MOD personnel and advisors is unacceptable and a shameful way to treat people trying to help the evacuation. They do their cause no good.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also spoken on the issue and was asked if he or his wife, Carrie Symonds, have had any influence on Mr Farthing’s case and he said: “I have had no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right.
“But what I can say is we will make sure that we have to do it impartially. So far we have helped the overwhelming majority in both categories and will use the remaining time to help as many as we can.”
We have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now. 🙏🏼 Let’s prove the IEA are taking a different path.
— Pen Farthing (@PenFarthing) August 26, 2021
The comments come after the ex-Marine said he was attempting to evacuate 200 cats and dogs and staff from the Nowzad animal shelter from Kabul but his efforts had been blocked by UK authorities.
Since the Taliban takeover in the capital, Mr Farthing has campaigned to have his staff, their families and the animals flown out in a charter plane, in a plan he has called Operation Ark.
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The defence secretary said he has ‘to prioritise people over pets’
A government source told Sky News that “Pen is making his way to Kabul airport” and he “is in the queue but he’s not in a safe location given the security threat, it’s still very precarious”.
“He’s in touch with the UK military who will facilitate entrance to the airport with all the other cleared personnel when they arrive,” the source added.
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UK govt ‘has abandoned me in Afghanistan’
On Thursday, Mr Farthing called on the Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen to arrange safe passage for his team and animals to their charter flight.
He tweeted: “Can you please facilitate safe passage into the airport for our convoy? We are an NGO who will come back to Afghanistan but right now I want to get everyone out safely.”
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday morning, the Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said British troops cannot move “desperate Afghans” out of the way to bring the former Royal Marine and staff and animals from his rescue centre to the front of the queue at Kabul airport.
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Boris Johnson says that if the ‘new government’ in Afghanistan wishes to engage with the West and receive development aid, they need to allow people to leave the country if they want to.
Mr Heappey said that while it is commendable that Mr Farthing has stayed with his staff and animals until they are evacuated, fast-tracking him through the evacuation process “doesn’t feel like the right thing to do”.
The armed forces minister told Sky News: “For him, it is a grim reality of these situations that as a British national we would seek to expedite his passage into the airport but he, commendably, has said that is not what he wants to do.
“He is asking us, the Americans and the Taliban for safe passage but I am afraid safe passage is also other words for being brought to the front of the queue.
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Ben Wallace said Paul Farthing’s flight has not been blocked
“And I just wonder how you feel about having to make a decision whereby we move lots of desperate Afghans out of the way to bring him through because of the profile and the support he has. That doesn’t feel like the right thing to do. It gives me no pleasure to say that though.”
According to Mr Heappey, Mr Farthing was offered a flight back to the UK last week and he “would have wanted to see him on it because we’ve got British troops in danger in order to facilitate the evacuation”.
He added the Foreign Office has cleared Mr Farthing’s staff to leave the country but reiterated that his team cannot be brought to the front of the queue.
“We have done everything we can to facilitate his staff coming here, we know that he has an aircraft from a Polish operator,” he said.
“We will seek to get that a landing slot through the combined air operation centre. The one thing we cannot do is move all the other Afghans out of the way to let his Afghans to the front of the queue.”
Earlier, shadow minister for Asia Stephen Kinnock told Sky News he agreed with Mr Wallace, who said people should be prioritised over pets.
Mr Wallace has said he found it “upsetting” that the military had been “diverted from saving .. people” because of “inaccurate stories” about what was happening to the animals and workers under Mr Farthing’s care.
He is reported to have told MPs: “What I was not prepared to do is prioritise pets over people, I’m afraid you might dislike me for that but that’s my view, there are also some very, very desperate people under real threat.”
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And Mr Kinnock said he agrees “with every word of that statement”.
“I think Mr Farthing had the opportunity as a British citizen to leave last week on a plane and I think what has always been clear is that this issue, this convoy that he has now with pets, dogs, etcetera – if it is blocking the runway in a way that is not allowing human beings to escape from Afghanistan, then that is problematic,” he said.
Mr Farthing founded the Nowzad shelter in Kabul after serving with the British Army in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s, with the organisation rescuing dogs, cats and donkeys.
