Afghanistan is not “a far country about which we know little,” Tom Tugendhat, Conservative MP and veteran, said in his speech to the Commons in a special debate convened following Taliban’s swift takeover of the country. In his seven-minute-long intervention, he put forward a bleak vision of present British-Afghan relations. The British had made promises and broken them. Worse still, he noted, the leader of our closest ally, the United States, had cast aspersions on the bravery of the Afghan national army: “Those who have not fought for the colours they fly should be careful about criticising those who have.”
Michel Barnier as France’s PM: are they having us on?
Brits who view the appointment of Barnier as a wind-up are flattering themselves. The present crisis is all about France.
