Raab faces an Afghan grilling from MPs

After a week of hostile briefings over his future as foreign secretary, Dominic Raab appeared before MPs this afternoon to face the music. As a blame game gets underway in Whitehall over the chaotic response to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Raab has found himself in the firing line. One government source suggested his handling of the crisis meant he ‘has about as much chance of being in a top four position by next spring as Arsenal’ when it comes to a cabinet reshuffle. This afternoon, Raab came out swinging — defending his department’s handling of the situation and pointing blame in the direction of others.

The session became rather heated at certain points — from Raab’s inability to say how many eligible Afghans were left behind to his refusal to say when exactly he went on holiday. What emerged from the session was the foreign secretary’s line of defence when it comes to how the UK was caught off guard.