Tobias Ellwood: I “Got It Wrong” On Afghanistan Trip Video
British Conservative Party lawmaker Tobias Ellwood has said that he “got it wrong” when uploading a video of his recent trip to Afghanistan, after his description of the country as having been “transformed” under the Taliban in the video was criticized as apparent praise of the fundamentalist group.
In an interview on TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored, Ellwood said that the response after he posted the video on Tuesday had “probably” been his “most miserable” days as a member of Parliament. “I got it wrong, Piers, I don’t know how many times you would like me to say that. But I stand by the fact that Afghanistan is in a very bad place. We have some difficult questions”. Ellwood told the BBC’s Newsnight program that: “I raised terrorism, I raised women’s rights, I raised children’s education… I don’t dismiss any of the challenges that are taking place”
Ellwood agreed with Morgan’s suggestion to delete the video, but insisted that the deletion did not answer “what is our strategy to help the 40 million people who feel abandoned and then we ceded power to the Taliban?” Ellwood has since removed the video from his social media.
In the video, Ellwood had claimed that during a trip to Afghanistan with Halo Trust deminers, he had seen that corruption had been reduced and security had “vastly” improved, adding that the opium trade had “all but disappeared”. This, he said, warranted reengagement with the Taliban, concluding the video with a statement that “Britain should lead the way” in doing so.
The video was widely criticized, with four members of the Commons Defence Committee Ellwood heads signing a motion of no confidence in his leadership of the Committee following the upload of the video. However, the motion cannot be voted on before the end of the Commons’ summer break in September.
Free From Fear, a UK based non-profit that seeks to aid Afghan resettlement, said in a series of tweets, “Shine a light on the truth and speak truth to power. Don’t go there to roll over on your back in the dirt for the men who believe women should be locked in the house and ethnic minorities should be purged.”
The release of the video also came shortly after a joint letter from senior UK military leaders, veterans, lawmakers and non-governmental organizations was sent to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, urging him to not forget the “debt of honour” to Afghans who fought alongside the British military that have still not been relocated to the UK.
In a Twitter post publicizing the letter, Labour MP Dan Jarvis, a former Parachute Regiment officer, said that Sunak’s government was failing on its obligation to relocate Afghans eligible for evacuation, and that “there’s no plan to get those Afghans left behind to safety”.
On 20 July, Ellwood posted a statement to social media noting that he doesn’t “always get it right” but doubling down on his assertion that the UK should “pursue a more direct strategy to help the 40 million people that we abandoned.”