Tory MP says Britain should reopen embassy in Kabul

Mr Ellwood said he is ‘far from’ being a Taliban appeaser but said Britain must ‘re-engage’ with Afghanistan

Conservative MP and chair of the defence select committee Tobias Ellwood (Dominic Lipinski/ PA) (PA Archive)

Britain should reopen its embassy in Afghanistan and restore talks with the Taliban to avoid a fresh wave of terrorism, a senior Tory MP has claimed.

Tobias Ellwood said said he is “far from” being a “Taliban appeaser” and said 20 years ago his brother was killed by Islamic extremists.

But Mr Ellwood, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, said that during a recent trip to Afghanistan, he “witnessed unreported compromises the war-exhausted nation is currently willing to accept”.

Mr Ellwood said he saw improved security, free travel and the disappearance of widespread corruption, adding the black market opium trade is “seemingly gone”.

If the West continues to sulk we could be making another blunder which pushes the nation to a fiscal cliff, potentially igniting another cycle of instability, terrorism and mass migration.

Tobias Ellwood

Writing in The Telegraph, he said: “This war-torn nation has not experienced relative peace like this since the 1970s.

“This, to put it mildly, was not what I was expecting.

“After a dozen visits to the country urging Nato and the UN to do exactly what the Taliban have now achieved, I had to grapple with the harsh reality of the West’s strategic missteps.”

The MP for Bournemouth East said it is time for Britain to “rethink and re-engage” with Afghanistan and the Taliban.

He said: “The first step is reopening our embassy.

“The second is to get real. Afghanistan’s future could be war again or life as a Chinese vassal.”

Nato left Afghanistan nearly two years ago, which saw the Taliban take back power in the country.

The Taliban brought back bans on education for girls and laws stopping women from going to work.

The Taliban also banned women’s beauty salons, adding on laws that prevent women from being in public spaces like parks and gyms.

Mr Elwood said: “The British Embassy is closed for political rather than security reasons.

“Of course, this boycott endures because of the Taliban’s regressive laws against women’s education and employment.

“If the West continues to sulk we could be making another blunder which pushes the nation to a fiscal cliff, potentially igniting another cycle of instability, terrorism and mass migration.

“A more pragmatic strategy is needed. The Taliban’s restrictions on women’s rights may well serve as a negotiation tool for shared understanding. But such a possibility will remain unknown until we wake up.”

Asked about the calls on Sky News, Mr Ellwood said “we really do need to re-engage with the Taliban”. “Otherwise, this frail country, the economy is still on edge, they need Western international support and we can not do that from shouting from afar,” he said.

The MP added that sufficient support could stave off “another cycle of terrorism” and levels of instability “that would lead to huge mass migration”.