There’s a grim mood in Westminster today. The images coming out of Kabul of desperate Afghans trying to board crowded flights out of the country have been juxtaposed in recent days with the Taliban assuming the trappings of power.
Parliament here in London has been recalled to debate the situation on Wednesday though no one is pinning any hopes on it making any difference in Afghanistan.
One MP more affected than most is Ben Wallace, the current Defence Secretary and a former captain in the Scots Guards. While Wallace had left the army by the time troops went into Afghanistan in 2001, he will no doubt be aware of many who served there, given his years of service in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Belize.
While being grilled about the Taliban’s takeover on LBC this morning, emotions obviously got to Wallace, who choked up with emotion. Responding to Nick Ferrari’s probing, the Defence Secretary told the host ‘it’s sad that the West has done what’s it’s done’ and explained ‘I am a soldier… twenty years of sacrifice is what it is.
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