Boris Johnson does not get to pick and choose what voters care about

From the evacuation of Kabul to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Partygate, the electorate has a longer memory than the prime minister seems to think, writes Chris Stevenson

Pointing the finger: the PM at Tory spring conference in Blackpool on Friday (AFP/Getty)

Another week and another story that Boris Johnson thought was in his rear-view mirror is back in the news – this time, the evacuation from Afghanistan of cats and dogs alongside the staff of Pen Farthing’s animal charity.

Josie Stewart – a senior official at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – has said it was “widespread knowledge” that the decision to help Nowzad “came from the prime minister”. It is something the Foreign Office and Downing Street have repeatedly denied. Stewart, the second whistleblower to come forward, said in written evidence to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee that such was her concern about the handling of the Afghan crisis and the evacuation from Kabul she accepted that speaking out would likely mean losing her job.

Add to that the comments from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, at her first press conference since returning to the UK, and Johnson’s level of discomfort will be growing. Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she had seen five foreign secretaries during her six-year detention in Iran (including the current prime minister): “That is unprecedented given the politics of the UK... I was told many, many times that ‘Oh we're going to get you home... ’ That never happened.”