Foreign Office boss admits error over Afghan animal evacuation

The Foreign Office's top civil servant has apologised for giving inaccurate answers to MPs about evacuating animals during the fall of Kabul.

Sir Philip Barton said he had "inadvertently" misled a committee investigating UK policy in Afghanistan.

Emails leaked to the committee show Foreign Office staff suggesting Boris Johnson had authorised the evacuation of animals and charity staff.

Sir Philip admitted he had given MPs incorrect information on this.

The prime minister denies any involvement in the decision to evacuate animals looked after by the charity Nowzad - run by ex-Royal Marine pen Farthing - from Kabul last August.

About 15,000 people were airlifted out of the Afghan capital, as the Taliban took control following the withdrawal of Western forces.

Mr Farthing and 150 animals left Kabul Airport on a chartered plane paid for by donations.

The UK government sponsored clearance for the flight, leading to a row over whether the animals had been prioritised over people.

When he appeared before the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday, Nigel Casey - the prime minister's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan - was asked if he knew whether the PM had intervened "in the evacuation of Nowzad staff or animals".

He replied: "Not to my knowledge."

And, in written evidence to the committee, published on Wednesday, Sir Philip denied that Mr Casey had received "any correspondence referring to the prime minister's intervention in the Nowzad case".

One, sent by an unnamed Foreign Office official last August, said that the "PM has just authorised [Nowzad's] staff and animals to be evacuated".

Another email from an unnamed official, sent on the same day, referred to "the PM's decision earlier today to evacuate the staff of the Nowzad animal charity".

And BBC Newsnight's Sima Kotecha has seen two emails with the subject heading "Pen Farthing and dogs", showing the Foreign Office and Mr Casey sought guidance from No 10 over the issue.

Following these revelations, Sir Philip sent a letter to the committee, saying: "I am writing to apologise for the inadvertently inaccurate answers given to... questions."

But he added: "As Nigel said to the committee on [Tuesday] he has no recollection of having seen emails in which staff attributed this decision to the prime minister. Nor do I."

Downing Street has continued to deny that Mr Johnson had any involvement with the Nowzad evacuation.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "It's not uncommon in Whitehall for a decision to be interpreted or portrayed as coming directly from the prime minister, even when that's not the case, and it's our understanding that's what happened in this instance.

"We appreciate it was a frenetic time for those officials dealing with this situation."

But Labour MP Chris Bryant, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, told BBC Breakfast: "We're not being led. It's just chaos... All I want to know is who made the decision?"