Heads of ALL THREE departments running Afghan response ‘on holiday’

Heads of ALL THREE departments running Afghan response defend going on ‘staycations’ amid meltdown saying they have deputies and are still ‘closely’ involved

• Senior officials at Foreign Office, Home Office and the Ministry of Defence have all been away on holiday  
• Departments have defended the absences saying still involves in Afghan response and deputies are on duty
• Dominic Raab is facing demands to resign over staying on his luxury Crete break as the crisis snowballed

By James Tapsfield, Political Editor For Mailonline

Published: 16:57 BST, 20 August 2021 | Updated: 16:57 BST, 20 August 2021

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Heads of the three departments running the Afghanistan response have defended going on ‘staycations’ during the crisis.

The top mandarins at the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence have all been away from Whitehall amid the chaos.

The news emerged with Dominic Raab under huge pressure over staying on his luxury break in Crete when the Afghan government dramatically collapsed. 

The trio are thought to have been enjoying leave in the UK, but their departments insisted they are still ‘involved’ in key decisions and have deputies who can take the strain. 

Boris Johnson started a break in Somerset on Saturday, but has paused his holiday until at least next week as he grapples with the fallout from the collapse of the Afghan regime at the hands of the Taliban. 

The news emerged with Dominic Raab (pictured today) under huge pressure over staying on his luxury break in Crete when the Afghan government dramatically collapsed

Sir Philip Barton, the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, is said to have been in regular contact with Mr Raab despite neither being in the office. 

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘The permanent secretary has remained closely involved throughout.’

Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft and David Williams, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence, have also been away. 

Mr Rycroft is understood to have been ‘dialing in’ to meetings today. ‘They all seem to be in the UK,’ one government source told MailOnline. ‘Matthew Rycroft has been dialing in from where he is.’   

A Ministry of Defence source insisted Mr Williams’ absence had no impact because Laurence Lee, the second permanent secretary, was at work. 

None of the mandarins are thought to be back in the office yet, although departments refused to comment on the details of their breaks. 

A Government spokeswoman said: ‘Departments across Whitehall have been working intensively at all levels in the last few days and weeks on the situation in Afghanistan.

‘Thanks to these efforts, we have relocated over 2,000 Afghans to the UK since June, evacuated over 400 British nationals and their families on RAF flights since Sunday and established one of the most generous asylum schemes in British history.’

Sources insisted there are ‘tried and tested systems’ in place for managing when senior officials are away on holiday.  

Dominic Raab insisted he had been working ‘tirelessly’ today as he faced fresh pressure over holidaying while Kabul burned – and it emerged that the top civil servants at three key departments have also been taking a break.

The Foreign Secretary shrugged off demands for his resignation, saying he had been ‘prioritising security’ at Kabul airport last Friday when he delegated a junior minister to make a crucial call to his Afghan counterpart.

Mr Raab said that had been the ‘right’ approach, arguing that the reason the call never happened was the ‘rapidly deteriorating situation’ that saw the government collapse.   

Tories have joined a ferocious backlash against Mr Raab over his failure to take time during his luxury Crete holiday to help the plight of staff who worked for British forces. However, there has been a concerted effort to shore him up today with a series of MPs condemning the ‘witchhunt’ against him.

Other senior Conservatives told MailOnline that Mr Johnson has been privately indicating that a reshuffle is unlikely for the next six months. There are claims that Mr Raab also enjoys the support of Carrie Johnson. 

‘I don’t think he is in any immediate danger, not least because Boris knows if you have too many ex-ministers throwing their weight around it becomes a problem,’ one MP said.

The Mail revealed yesterday that Mr Raab had been advised by officials to contact his Afghan counterpart urgently on Friday. However, he delegated the task to junior minister Lord Goldsmith, with the department insisting he was engaged on other calls. 

It was thought the telephone conversation had then taken place the following day – but the Foreign Office has now conceded it never happened as the Afghan regime collapsed.  

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