Boris Johnson definitely collects controversy: in the hot seat because of “partygate”, he is now suspected of having intervened personally to facilitate the rescue of a kennel in Kabul, when the city fell into the hands of the Taliban, in August 2021, and as thousands of Afghans fearing for their lives desperately tried to flee the country.
The operation transferred around 150 dogs and cats to the UK, as well as the owner of the kennel, Pen Farthing, a Royal Navy veteran. During this dramatic period, the British authorities rescued 15,000 Afghans (translators and their families, personalities at risk) but thousands of others – sometimes even dual nationals with British passports – were not so lucky.
On Wednesday January 26, the Westminster Foreign Affairs Committee, which is investigating the handling of the British withdrawal from Afghanistan, published an email mentioning the supposed role of the Prime Minister in this rather baroque evacuation – and very publicized at the time (M Farthing had multiplied calls for help on television channels).
On August 25, 2021, an aide to Foreign Secretary Zac Goldsmith emailed the evacuation team at the Foreign Office mentioning Mr. Farthing’s kennel. “The Nowzad charity, run by an ex-Royal Navy, received a lot of publicity and the PM [premier ministre] has just authorized the evacuation of its teams and animals”.
Boris Johnson weakened by the “partygate”
This message corroborates the allegations of a whistleblower, Raphael Marshall, an employee of the Foreign Office, who delivered to Parliament, at the end of 2021, a staggering testimony on the chaotic British rescue operation. His department had “received instructions from the Prime Minister” in order to use ” a capacity [de transport] considerable ” to help the animals of the Nowzad association to leave the country.
At the time, Boris Johnson had denied having put the lives of dogs and cats before that of Afghans, directly threatened by the Taliban.
Sky News and the BBC also reported messages from MP and parliamentary aide to Mr Johnson, Trudy Harrisson, who appears to have struggled in late August 2021 to find an airline willing to charter a plane for Mr. Farthing’s animals. Interviewed by the BBC, Dominic Dyer, an animal rights activist who participated in the rescue of the kennel, was also surprised that Mr. Johnson refused to recognize his role: “none of your viewers imagine, I suppose, that me, Pen Farthing and a few other volunteers could have organized such an evacuation on their own”.
Weakened by the cascading revelations of “partygate”, the Prime Minister again denied any involvement on Thursday, January 27. “It’s rhubarb – nonsense -, he launched funny, the military has always put human beings first and it was the right thing to do. » On Twitter, Pen Farthing assured ” 100 % ” not having had “no direct contact” with Mr. Johnson.