you're a former soldier, tobias ellwood.m another former soldier, jack cummings. he was a soldier in the royal engineers. he lost both legs in afghanistan serving with the british army. he wrote this on twitter. "did i lose my legs for nothing? "it looks like it. did my mates die in vain? "yep. many emotions are going through my head right now — "anger, betrayal, sadness." what would you say to him? yeah, it's completely disheartening, the fact that we've so quickly given up to follow the united states. i visited helmand province probably a dozen times over the last 10, 12 years, and always amazed to see the bravery of our armed forces personnel and the work that they were doing to build up local capabilities. every time i went there, i was very saddened to see that the good work that we were doing, the umbrella of security that we provided, was not being leveraged with proper development programmes to get the economy working, to build infrastructure and so forth, and that's absolutely critical to win over the hearts and min

whether it's johnny mercer, tobias ellwood or tom to get hot, they think— tobias ellwood or tom to get would be important since that training has been given. that rote _ since that training has been given. that role has been played by them to try and _ that role has been played by them to try and integrate them, so this needs— try and integrate them, so this needs to — try and integrate them, so this needs to be looked at. let's go to the front page of the times. a warning that has been sounded a lot, that there are threat is worst in years is the headline. yeah, desperate scenes in kabul. britain faces its biggest terrorist threat for many years. the front also says the taliban has been offered diplomatic recognition. it's talking about a former army commander, diplomats and mps who are saying britain is significantly less safe now that taliban have taken over. commander of british troops says the uk faces the greatest danger from terrorism. says the uk faces the greatest dangerfrom terrorism. it says the uk faces the greatest danger from terrorism. it says it could be a bigger threat

joining us is tobias ellwood.ave been very vocal on afghanistan and have been extremely worried about a rise in terrorism in afghanistan and across the world. what can the u.k. and u.s. do to control the situation as best they can? tobias: just to hear the nato secretary-general say we will not forget the people of afghanistan, but that is what it looks like we've done, we've departed, and we've lost our leverage and influence. if you are the taliban, look around you. who will you choose to be your new powells? iraq -- pals. iraq, iran, russia, right on the border. this has been a demoralizing and disheartening step back for the international community. but we can do on the international stage itself, we have sent ourselves to a critical part of the world, and there are thousands of afghans who feel at risk because of the taliban, who have promised to be more lenient, claiming to have learned lessons from the past, but evidence suggests they are hunting down and executing commanders, media critics, forcing women t

. >>> we'll have tobias ellwood. he's going join us to discuss afghanistan. "way too early" coming right back switch today and get 2 lines of unlimited and 2 free smartphones. plus you'll now get netflix on us. all this for up to 50% off vs. verizon. it's all included. 2 lines of unlimited for only $70 bucks. and this rate is fixed. you'll pay exactly $70 bucks total. this month and every month. only at t-mobile. ♪ ♪ downy's been taking you back, since way back. with freshness and softness you never forget. feel the difference with downy. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ every single day, we're all getting a little bit better. ♪♪ we're better cooks... better neighbors... hi. i've got this until you get back. better parents... and better friends. no! no! that's why comcast works around the clock constantly improving america's largest gig-speed broadband network. and just doubled the capacity here. how do things look on your end? -perfect! because we're building a better network every single day. >>> president biden is set to meet with leaders. biden has already spoken to a number

tobias ellwood, who is chair of the _ that tomorrow.ghanistan for _ about nowzad. we have been in afghanistan for 15 _ about nowzad. we have been in afghanistan for 15 years, - about nowzad. we have been in afghanistan for 15 years, we - about nowzad. we have been in - afghanistan for 15 years, we provide animal welfare awareness, as you mentioned, we actually got a rabies vaccination programme to prevent stray dogs spreading rabies to the human population, and we also run a working donkey programme here in afghanistan. there are millions of working donkey is that are overused, have no respite from their daily toil, so we run a programme to educate the owners and to treat the donkeys. we have 25 afghan nationals who are the most positive, vibrant people who absolutely love theirjob and love working here in afghanistan.— and love working here in afuhanistan. . ., ., afghanistan. including among your staff are a number _ afghanistan. including among your staff are a number of _ afghanistan. including among your staff are a number of women

my guest is british conservative mp and former soldier tobias ellwood.

to hear someone like tobias ellwood say today that this could be a humanitarian disaster and in terms but across the world, policy makers across the world, policy makers across the world will be trying to grapple with it right now. world will be trying to grapple with it right now-— a reminder of the major developments in afghanistan. taliban militants say they are now entering teh capital kabul after a lightning advance across the country. the president ashraf ghani has left afghanistan and the taliban look set to take some form of control within days. roads out of kabul have been packed with people fleeing the taliban. the militant group has told the bbc they will respect the rights of women and allow a free media. as well as taking every major city, the taliban have captured more territory, including the former us airbase at bagram. the us has has begun evacuating staff from its embassy with chinook heliopters soon flying over the city another very symbolic vision today. earlier i spoke to michael 0'hanlon, senior fellow at the brookings institution in washington. he has written ex

we have just been speaking to the british mp tobias ellwood who has said pakistan has a lot to answertan has a lot to answerfor. you have given has said pakistan has a lot to answer for. you have given some background there that people are also saying pakistan will play a key role in the future of afghanistan. yes, indeed. everyone accepts and the british in the western countries because some will say the road to kabul go is via a slam are bad because they have a huge influence in afghanistan. the north—west of pakistan the southern eastern part of pakistan are dominated by tribes who lived on both sides of the border. there are historic connections and they never respected the orders because people were moving across and marrying. —— borders. forthem it moving across and marrying. —— borders. for them it is only one community living across. but what happened during the soviet invasion in the late 1970s and in 1980s many pakistanis were blaming the us for supplying weapons to the moon hatchet dean who were fighting against the soviets. ——mujahadin. and the pipeline going all the way t

tobias ellwood, thank you very much forjoining us.ern europe. after fires and floods, a biblical heatwave. sicily with what's believed to be the highest temperature ever recorded in europe, 48.8 degrees. much of southern europe is sweltering and its people are sweating. translation: it's a strange summer but we have always had _ the desire to travel. our children had to stay home all the winter because of covid—i9 lockdowns, so now we're doing everything to make them happy. red alerts are in force in 15 italian cities. those who can try to cool off. but in this ageing country, there's concern about the vulnerable. spain too is scorching. with temperatures set to hit the mid to high 40s, the shady squares are the best spots. thermometers from the pandemic are put to other use. it's been prompted by this, an anticyclone, an area of high pressure sat across north africa and southern europe. this one is nicknamed lucifer, — apt for those in its wake. and it's stoking the wildfires, around 500 new blazes ravaging italy last night — the wor

with us today is tobias ellwood. mr.n social media in asking for more to be done. thank you for joining us. the first question is, how can this happen so quickly? it was only weeks ago that the u.s. left afghanistan. did any nato ally think that the taliban could come back with such force? mr. ellwood: once the decision was made to remove the coalition troops, then the taliban knew they just had to wait for the time. it was actually president trump that shows to allow thousands of taliban prisoners to be released and made the commitment to withdraw troops, making election promises that he did not need to make. this was a political judgment and a false one. the consequence is that once the u.s. troops were departing, other nato countries felt they had to follow suit. and the way afghanistan works is that whoever looks like they are going to win, people are quite happy to change size. many of the ranks of taliban are members -- former members of the armed forces. ultimately, the world is a little more dangerous than it was

i think that mps like tobias ellwood and the conservative party have been really voicing that anguish been running an errand and found myself speaking to a mother of a british soldier who had been in iraq and afghanistan, and she described others who had lost sons. the i think if we can reach out to families who may not have to seen a tour of duty recently, but sometime ago, i think we need to support them and i think the government needs to do much more to support them and their mental health.— their mental health. benedicte, thank ou their mental health. benedicte, thank you so — their mental health. benedicte, thank you so much _ their mental health. benedicte, thank you so much considering | their mental health. benedicte, i thank you so much considering you didn't have that front page in front of you. i really appreciate that. graeme, we have that picture there, with a royal air force aircraft and some of the crew disembarking from that plane. i want to ask you about some of the criticism that has been leveled at the government. you heard what boris johnson leveled at the governm

interesting to hear the likes of tobias ellwood, very senior conservative mp, chair of the commons defenceastrophe, the moment for britain to step forward, he says. and another very senior conservative mp, tom tugendhat, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, saying, this is the biggest single policy disaster since the suez so this week mps will be debating what extra moves of the government might make. we debating what extra moves of the government might make.- debating what extra moves of the government might make. we can speak to labour's shadow _ government might make. we can speak to labour's shadow foreign _ to labour's shadow foreign secretary, lisa nandy. i suppose much of the world has watched in horror as province after province has fallen to the taliban. and now they are at the gates of kabul. we understand they will not enter kabul until there is some kind of peaceful settlement. but what does this actually say about the international community's commitment to afghanistan?— community's commitment to afghanistan? well, it's been a catastrophic— afghanistan? well, it's been

there may be people who can't be evacuated, but this is why the chair of the defence committee tobias ellwooduk should lobby the us to extend the uk should lobby the us to extend the deadline, he said to the prime minister should have daily calls with the president of the united states about this and nato's secretary should call for an extension. we have asked the uk government to comment, we understand while they are in constant discussions with the us about the airport there has not been a specific request for the deadline to be extended. president biden has suggested it is something he could look at if necessary but i think the uk government is very much working to the deadline which is just over one week away now. with many now seeking to escape afghanistan, turkey has warned of a new wave of migration, and called on european countries to take responsibility for afghan migrants. greece has installed a new 25 mile fence and surveillence system on its border with turkey. the greek minister responsible said his country could not wait passively for the possible impact of the taliban takeover.

tobias ellwood, chair of the defence select committee, thank you very much for your time today.- selectn england and wales hasjumped to an all—time high. figures obtained by the children's charity, the nspcc, show that instagram — which is owned by facebook — was the platform most commonly used by suspected paedophiles. legislation aimed at reducing online harms is due to be scrutinised in the lords next month. elaine — not her real name — was 13 when she met the man online who would go on to rape her. i was groomed online by a much older man who was 31 at the time. he started off by telling me he was younger than he was, but as the grooming went on, he would tell me he was slightly older, and then he was slightly older than that, but by that point i trusted him that much that it didn't matter, it didn't register. it went on for quite some time. it's we met in person. he sexually assaulted me and then went on to rape me twice. i didn't realise that that's what it was at the time. i thought he loved to me and that's what you do. it wasn't until i was probably about 16 or 17 that it reall

tobias ellwood is a uk member of parliament and chair of the country's defence select committee. you very much forjoining us on a bbc news and bbc world news today. as simon was just reporting, a very sombre mood for all of those officials and soldiers returning from afghanistan, naturally, because they know there are people who have been left behind who are entitled to come. when borisjohnson talks about using the political, economic and diplomatic levers are available to the uk now, has he got many levers in reality? the uk now, has he got many levers in reali ? , , , the uk now, has he got many levers inreali ? _ , . , in reality? firstly, 'ust technology and echoed h in reality? firstly, 'ust technology and echoed the _ in reality? firstly, just technology and echoed the ambassador's - and echoed the ambassador's comments, this was an incredible uk tactical and military effort, thousands airlifted to safety in the most difficult and harrowing circumstances and the country can be very proud of what the armed forces have done but there is more work to be done. there is a priori

tobias ellwood joins us on bbc news.is where is the aircraft carrier and why is it not back the indian ocean given we have a very difficult evacuation operation taking place in kabul. we need to have forces ready to support troops on the ground. this justifies investing millions in a maritime asset but it is in the wrong place. that would be my first request. also it is not too late to turn this around. we are seeing a terrible civil war unfold. the way the afghans do their fighting is civil war unfold. the way the afghans do theirfighting is not civil war unfold. the way the afghans do their fighting is not to have street battles in the cities themselves, the war lords and tribes will be fleeing into the mountains and then they will retrain and regroup and rearm and come back with a vengeance. the taliban do not represent all of afghanistan. certainly in the north, the northern alliance will be gathered together again and muster up a force to retake jalalabad and some of these cities which are dear to them so we have a

one of the issues. that was raised by tobias ellwood pretty picture.akes the country back to the level of contributions that they were from here before the cuts. but when you are sending money to a country that is led by the taliban what does that mean in terms of how much trust there can be over how that gets dispersed?— dispersed? yes, it is a very important _ dispersed? yes, it is a very important question. - dispersed? yes, it is a very important question. for. dispersed? yes, it is a very - important question. for humanitarian purposes, this is for providing food for the 5.5 million people who are food insecure, and helping them to survive through sanitation and shelter and classic humanitarian needs, that funding from donors i believe should continue to flow. but it flows through un agencies and flows through ngonot through the taliban. i think there will be practical cooperation with the taliban because that will be necessary to ensure delivery of this, and that is a really big priority and i am very glad the uk has announced that along with the

tobias ellwood, a conservative mp and chair of the defence select committee in the house of commons —7 summit here in cornwall in the uk only a few months ago. the determination by the united states and britain and we signed a new charter that determine to give greater resolve to what the west stands for, what we believe in, and what we are waiting to defend and here we are belittled in disarray and having to negotiate and airports to remain open and critical it must because that air bridge is vital to get at risk afghans out of the country and i am really sorry that when i'm having to mop up so many poor decisions, a litany of mistakes both strategic and operational that were made unilaterally by the united states. eu member states are still working on their evacuation efforts. this plane carrying 2,000 french nationals and afghans landed in paris earlier today. and the eu says that it has has evacuated all its staff from afghanistan, apart from some officials still working at kabul airport. here's the president of the european commission charles michel. we have also raised this issu

thank you very much- _ tobias ellwood is chair of the defence select committee.out this looming august the 31st deadline? it’s are you about this looming august the 31st deadline?— are you about this looming august the 31st deadline? it's an enormous roblem the 31st deadline? it's an enormous problem we — the 31st deadline? it's an enormous problem we face. _ the 31st deadline? it's an enormous problem we face. can _ the 31st deadline? it's an enormous problem we face. can should - the 31st deadline? it's an enormous problem we face. can should be - the 31st deadline? it's an enormous problem we face. can should be to | problem we face. can should be to the incredible work of our armed forces _ the incredible work of our armed forces. what they are doing independent —— difficult situations, and ii— independent —— difficult situations, and it changing literally by the hour, — and it changing literally by the hour, but _ and it changing literally by the hour, but we must extend this august the 31st _ hour, but we must extend this august the 31st deadline. let's not

this is tobias ellwood, a conservative mp and former army captain.o bring people over to the united kingdom and resettle them. we know this figure of 5000 in the first year is absolutely deliverable. it would be terrible to bring people over and not be able to give them the support that they would need in terms of accommodation, resettlement and giving them the opportunity to basically read to build a new life, because that is effectively what they will be doing. uk embassy staff in kabul have stayed to help process uk nationals and get visas to vulnerable people, but how long they can stay there is reliant on the security situation. here's the uk ambassador. how long have we got? it really depends— how long have we got? it really depends on other things outside our control~ _ depends on other things outside our control. the security situation, the approach _ control. the security situation, the approach of— control. the security situation, the approach of the taliban. we're working — approach of the taliban. we're working on the basis of days, not w

tobias ellwood, thanks.strazeneca vaccines are equally effective in the long—term, the pfizerjab works best initially. our health correspondent, naomi grimley reports. for months, the office for national statistics, in partnership with oxford university, has been asking hundreds of thousands of us to do swabs for their research. unlike other studies, which have looked at how effective vaccines are at keeping people out of hospital, this one has looked at how good they are at preventing any infection with the delta variant. to begin with, the effectiveness of the pfizerjab appears to be better than the oxford astrazeneca one, but, after 11—5 months, pfizer's effectiveness seems to decline faster. what we have found is that effectiveness was initially higher 1a days after a second dose of pfizer compared to astrazeneca. for example, 93% against symptomatic infections for pfizer and 71% for astrazeneca. however, overtime, the effectiveness declines faster with pfizer than for astrazeneca. the more sobering news

that has been made by the chair of the defence committee at tobias ellwood, that if the taliban don'the message is not communicated to people on the ground, the fear is that chaos could ensuring if people can't board flights and have to get to borders in other ways. all of this of course against the backdrop of time, which is a last big issue facing this evacuation process. we know the deadline for us troops withdrawing is on tuesday, but in reality it's much sooner, given that the us forces need to close down their operations, british officials and military want to be out before them. really we are now in the final hours of this evacuation as we know it. for the moment, ione, thank you. will get more at 7:30am with james heappey, the armed forces minister, and we will get more details on what is planned and timings. ministers are facing fresh warnings about the effect of removing extra universal credit payments in the autumn. two conservative mps have written to the prime minister, saying that cutting the £20—a—week uplift risks undermining his levelling—up agenda. the government say

we can speak now to tobias ellwood, chair of the house of commons defence select committee.d the white hot band with two for the leadership that we were so good at, not least in persuading other us allies to think differently. h0 not least in persuading other us allies to think differently. no one is den inc allies to think differently. no one is denying the — allies to think differently. no one is denying the speed _ allies to think differently. no one is denying the speed of _ allies to think differently. no one is denying the speed of the - is denying the speed of the taliban's advance catching many out, but the speed of the uk government in its response does not seem as quick, does it? in its response does not seem as quick. does it?— in its response does not seem as quick, does it? no, and these are the questions _ quick, does it? no, and these are the questions to _ quick, does it? no, and these are the questions to ask. _ quick, does it? no, and these are the questions to ask. that - quick, does it? no, and these are the questions to ask. that has - quick, does it? no