The MP for Bracknell has praised the work of UK forces and operational staff for the evacuation in Afghanistan but has expressed fears for the safety of  women, children, and the LGBT+ community under Taliban rule.

The militant radical Islamic group swept back to power in Afghanistan last month.

James Sunderland, the Conservative MP for Bracknell, praised the evacuation and expressed concerns for the future of Afghanistan in an interview on TalkRadio by broadcaster Kevin O’Sullivan.

Mr  O’Sullivan said: “I do find it quite unsavoury the way Labour are trying to make political capital out of this terrible situation that Boris [Johnson] and the British Government were plunged into. Can we nail the lie that it’s Boris’s fault, or  Dominic Raab’s fault, this is Joe Biden’s fault, isn’t it?”

Mr Sunderland replied: “Yeah I completely agree. Let’s be clear on this, it was a Labour Government in 2001 that first put British troops on the ground, and it was a US decision earlier this year to pull out, and that’s the unilateral decision they’ve taken for domestic policy reasons, so looking for a scapegoat and blaming people isn’t in my opinion the right thing to do.

“What we need to do right now is get our heads together, we need to be a collective, work as one team, we need to work out now how to deal with the mess that’s been left behind and not blame people unnecessarily.”

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Mr Sunderland’s statement that the Labour government joined the invasion of Afghanistan is correct. The decision to join the US-led invasion was taken without a parliamentary vote, unlike the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Mr O’Sullivan asked: “Do you fear for the people of Afghanistan, particularly, don’t forget there is 150 British people who didn’t quite manage to get out, but I’m also thinking of Afghani women obviously, gay people, just society generally there.

“They’ve had 20 years of relative enlightenment and now they’ve been plunged back into Taliban darkness.”

Mr Sunderland said: “Yeah I totally agree with that, the first thing I’d say now is that the British Military, the MOD, has done a fantastic job of getting so many people out in a very finite timeframe, a fantastic effort from our forces on the ground and full marks to them and all the ministers who’ve led the operation.

“But of course some are left behind. What I’d like to see now is the Foreign Office to lead from the front, I want the presence in Kabul, I want discussions with the Taliban with a view to getting these people out, And of course our loyalty also extends not just to British nationals, but those members of the Afghan community who might otherwise be at risk.

“And of course, we’re very concerned about women, children, and homosexuals, but I’m just praying and hoping that the Taliban might look at this in a new dimension and a new light.”

Mr Sunderland appeared on Mr O’Sullivan’s show at 7pm on Monday, August 30. You can listen to the full show here: https://talkradio.co.uk/radio/schedule/2021-08-30

The Taliban became an enemy of the United States, UK, and an international coalition of forces when they sheltered the Al Qaeda radical Islamic terror group in Afghanistan while the Taliban were in control of the country from 1996 to 2001.

The Taliban were accused of harbouring Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, thought to be the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks. Bin Laden was eventually assassinated by US special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011.

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According to Human Rights monitor Freedom House, Afghanistan is ‘not free’. Same-sex relationships were illegal under the Western backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Taliban rule.

Womens access to education was prohibited under the Taliban but freed under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan established in 2004. But even prior to the Taliban’s recent takeover last month, women suffered domestic abuse and limited representation in democracy.

Children are vulnerable to debt bondage and labour, and in areas of Afghanistan, there is the practice of Bacha Bhazi, which involves boys performing dances for older men, often leading to sexual assaults. The Taliban made the practice punishable by death when they ruled from 1996-2001.