BBC Question Time audience member annihilates Tory MP’s Afghanistan excuses

A BBCQuestion Time audience member has given a Tory MP an absolute hammering over the government’s record in Afghanistan.

Asked last night why the government “had failed” with their exit strategy, James Cleverly launched a seemingly avoidant rant in which he listed points portraying the government in a good light, causing a frustrated audience member to interject.

He said that in April the government had issued advice to British nationals “to leave Afghanistan” and that they had “set up a scheme” to resettle people.

“We’ve resettled over 3,300 people through that scheme and their families...” he said, before the audience member interrupted and said: “don’t carry on, answer the question.”

“This is rhetoric,” she continued.

Host Fiona Bruce also pressed Cleverly to answer the question.

“I was explaining what the exit strategy was,” Cleverly said

The audience member then asked: “How materially effective is that?

“Because if it was effective, we wouldn’t be having this conversation today would we?

“How dare you, how dare you.”

It comes after parliament was recalled for a five-hour debate yesterday to discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, with Taliban forces seizing the country last weekend causing people to flee the regime.

The UK Government has been criticised for only accepting up to 5000 Afghan refugees to be resettled here in the next year, with 20,000 coming overall in the next few years. Meanwhile, they are also facing questions about their failure to equip Western-backed Afghan forces for power, prior to removing troops from the country,

Reacting to the audience member, after she questioned Cleverly on the latter point, people on social media praised her for her expert take-down:

Elsewhere in the show, a veteran from the war was also praised after she delivered a moving speech about her time in the country. She said that while things had not been perfect, while the UK had a military presence in Afghanistan they had managed to help girl’s access to education and keep things “safe”.

Given the fall of the country to the Taliban, she said that now people “are seriously questioning what it was all for” and that a “full parliamentary inquiry” is needed. If not, she will be “utterly embarrassingly humiliated” about her service, she said.