Operation Ark returns to haunt Boris

Boris Johnson is doing rather well on Ukraine at the moment, thanks to Britain’s role in sending arms and training instructors there. But now another military crisis from the not-so-recent past threatens to block the greased pig’s escape from political danger yet again. For this afternoon the Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) will be taking evidence on Operation Ark, the evacuation of Pen Farthing’s sanctuary Nowzad from Afghanistan amid claims that the lives of animals were put before Afghans.

The blame game about who was responsible for the sorry episode has raged since August. In December, Foreign Office whistleblower Raphael Marshall released a devastating account of Britain’s exit from Afghanistan, including the claim that ‘there was a direct trade-off between transporting Nowzad’s animals and evacuating British nationals and Afghan evacuees.’ 

No. 10 still denies giving the green light to the scheme, even though multiple Foreign Office emails reference his involvement. In January, FAC published a paper trail which showed officials giving advice to the Foreign Secretary on how to enact ‘the Prime Minister’s Nowzad decision’ and transfer the animals out of Afghanistan. The