Dominic Raab regrets holiday during Afghanistan crisis

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has defended being on holiday as the Taliban was advancing on Kabul, saying "with hindsight" he would not have gone away at all.

He said the whole world was "caught unawares" by the speed of the Taliban takeover.

But Mr Raab said the idea he was "lounging on the beach" was "nonsense".

Instead the foreign secretary said he was focused on the evacuation operation and the stability of the airport.

Last week it emerged that Mr Raab had been unavailable to make a phone call to the Afghan foreign minister about evacuating interpreters who had helped UK forces while he was on holiday in Crete.