Image source, HoC

Scottish National Party Westminster leader Ian Blackford is up next.

He says the chaos and crisis inflicted on the Afghan people is the biggest foreign policy failure of modern times.

The sheer scale of political failure is only matched by the humanitarian emergency it has now unleashed, he adds.

He says the future and fate of Afghanistan has never been more uncertain and the scenes of Afghans seeking to jump on moving planes will "haunt us for the rest of our lives".

Geographical distance doesn't diminish the moral responsibility we need to feel for the West's role in this crisis, he adds.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

We haven't seen, or heard, the Commons like this since before the pandemic.

It's full. It's noisy. And you can hear the anger in MPs' voices.

Social distancing has gone.

The Prime Minister was having a very tough time, particularly from MPs on his own side.

Backbencher after backbencher, including his predecessor Theresa May, asking sharp questions.

Boris Johnson's answers were often accompanied by withering facial expressions from those putting the question.

There are colossal questions today: colossal questions about the practicalities of getting people out of Afghanistan.

But colossal questions too about the big picture: the purpose of the mission from the outset, the huge intelligence failure that meant the speed of the Taliban’s advance simply wasn’t anticipated.

Could the UK have done more to prevent this week’s disaster? What about the decisions of President Biden?

And what now of the threat posed by a Taliban controlled Afghanistan?

The questions keep coming - and will until five o'clock this afternoon.

Theresa May says she fears the situation in Afghanistan will embolden those who do not share Western values and "wish to impose their way of life on others".

"I am afraid I think this has been a major setback for British foreign policy," she says. "We talk about global Britain but where is global Britain on the streets of Kabul?"

She says all military personnel who served in Afghanistan should be proud of what they achieved.

"The politicians sent them there, the politicians decided to withdraw, the politicians must be responsible for the consequences," she concludes.

Theresa May moves on to considering how the move by the US to withdraw support from Afghanistan will be viewed around the world.

She asks what message it sends about the UK's capabilities and willingness to defend our values - and what does it say about Nato if we are entirely dependent on a unilateral decision taken by the US?

"We all understand the importance of American support but I do find it incomprehensible and worrying that the UK was not able to bring together an alternative alliance of countries to continue to provide the support necessary to sustain a government in Afghanistan."

She says there needs to be a reassessment of how Nato operates, adding that neither Russia nor China will be blind to the implications of this withdrawal decision.

Tory benches unhappy with Starmer's attackspublished at 11:00 British Summer Time 18 August 2021

11:00 BST 18 August 2021

View from the Press Gallery above the Commons chamber

Pete Saull
Political Reporter, BBC Westminster

There’s been consternation on the Conservative benches at the Labour leader’s lines of attack.

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of “complacency” and “appalling” judgement.

And Starmer repeatedly refused to allow interventions from Tory MPs.

Before he finished speaking a few minutes ago Sir Keir Starmer said the prime minister's initial response to the "Taliban arriving at the gate of Kabul was to go on holiday".

The Labour leader said "the foreign secretary shakes his head - I wouldn't have stayed on holiday" as "the mission in Afghanistan was disintegrating".

"You cannot coordinate an international response from the beach," he added.

Theresa May says there will be many who fear for their lives under the Taliban and numbered among them will be women.

She recognises the Taliban have proclaimed women will be able to work and girls go to school under Islamic law but adds that is "under their interpretation of Islamic law and we have seen before what that means for the rights of women and girls".

May says: "Sadly the life of women and girls will not be the same, they will not have the rights that they should have and they will not have the freedoms that they should have".

She adds that despite the UK having cut its foreign aid budget the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has told her that more funding will be made available to deal with the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Theresa May says there are many, many Afghans "not just those who worked with British forces, who are now in fear for their lives".

She says it is right for the UK to open up a refugee scheme but says the government must make sure that it is open to everyone who needs it.

May says while the Nato presence was always going to end at some time but the withdrawal should have been be orderly - and it has not been.

"What has been most shocking has been the chaos and the speed of the take over by the Taliban," she says.

The former PM points out that President Biden and the prime minister indicated they did not think the Taliban was ready to take control of the country in July.

She asks if the UK's intelligence was "really so poor", or "did we just feel we had to follow the US and hope that on a wing and a prayer it would be all right on the night?"

The prime minister is right to say we cannot allow Afghanistan to become a training ground for terrorists, Sir Keir Starmer says, but he says that task is more difficult "now that Afghanistan has descended into chaos".

"If preventing Al-Qaeda camps is now the limit of our ambition we are now betraying 20 years of sacrifice by our armed forces and we are betraying the Afghan people who cannot be left to the cruelty of the Taliban."

Starmer says the PM's judgement on Afghanistan has been "appalling".

He says the UK has lost its primary source of leverage in political discussions and "everything we have achieved in the last 20 years is now under threat".

While he says nobody believes Britain and its allies could remain in Afghanistan indefinitely, he says the Taliban agreement with President Donald Trump was 18 months ago.

"We have had 18 months to plan for what would follow," he says.

"The lack of planning has been unforgivable," he adds.

On the refugee crisis, Sir Keir says many Afghans bravely sought to rebuild their country.

They did so on a promise of democratic freedoms and liberty for the oppressed including women and girls, he says.

They are our friends and they are now fearing for their lives - we owe an obligation, he adds.

Johnson facing restless MPspublished at 10:34 British Summer Time 18 August 2021

10:34 BST 18 August 2021

View from the Press Gallery above the Commons chamber

Pete Saull
Political Reporter, BBC Westminster

The Commons seems particularly restless, with MPs from all sides trying to intervene and ask the prime minister a question during his statement.

Several former Conservative ministers have already expressed their concerns in the debate.

Boris Johnson does, however, get a chorus of “hear hear” when he stresses that the UK’s allies have agreed not to immediately recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

Senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith asks Labour's Sir Keir whether he agrees that US President Joe Biden's statement, in which he effectively blamed Afghan forces - who he says have lost nearly 70,000 troops - was "shameful".

Sir Keir says: "The US is an important ally.

"But to overlook the fighting of the Afghan troops in recent years - they have been at the forefront - that's wrong."

Sir Keir Starmer says the government's announcement is vague and will support 5,000 in the first year - "a number without rationale".

He says that for those "desperately needing our help" there is no long term.

Sir Keir says the government has seemed "ill-prepared and unwilling".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer goes on to say this desperate situation requires leadership and for the prime minister to "snap out of his complacency".

He raises a comment from the defence secretary, Ben Wallace, that some people who "worked with us will not get back". That was unconscionable, he says, and calls on the government to outline a plan to get them back and provide stable security at the airport to get people out.

He also highlights some reports from NGOs that an evacuation plane left almost empty this morning because people couldn't get through the airport - and asks the government to respond.

Image source, HoC

Sir Keir Starmer addresses those who served in Afghanistan and their families, saying "your sacrifice was not in vain".

"It brought stability, reduced the terrorist threat and enabled progress. We are all proud of what you did," he says.

"Your sacrifice deserves better than this and so do the Afghan people."

Sir Keir says there has been a "major miscalculation of the resilience of Afghan forces" and "staggering complacency from our government about the Taliban threat".

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer describes this as a "disastrous week".

"Twenty years ago the Taliban were largely in control of Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda were using the country as a training ground and a base for terror - including plotting the horrific 9/11 attacks," he says.

He says girls were denied an education, women couldn't work and being gay was punishable by death.

"Since then a fragile democracy has emerged, it was by no means perfect but no international terror attacks have been mounted from Afghanistan in that period," he says, adding Afghans have allowed themselves to dream of a better future.

Sir Keir says those achievements came from the sacrifice of UK military personnel and goes on to name MPs who served in Afghanistan.

He says many members of the armed forces who served there returned with life-changing injuries and "tragically 457 didn't return at all".

Image source, HoC

Boris Johnson goes on to say he has spoken to many leaders in the West over the past few days.

He says they agreed it would be a mistake for any country to recognise any new regime in Kabul "prematurely or bilaterally".

Instead those countries that care about Afghanistan's future should consider the conduct, he says.

"We will judge this regime on the choices it makes and by its actions rather than its words - on its attitude to terror, to crime and narcotics, as well as humanitarian access and the rights of girls to receive an education."

Boris Johnson says the UK has an "enduring commitment to all the Afghan people" as he calls for the UN to lead a new humanitarian effort in the region to support those fleeing conflict and the threat of violence.

He says he will chair a meeting of the G7 in the coming days, adding that national security is a concern for all the Nato allies.

Questions the PM could face from MPspublished at 10:08 British Summer Time 18 August 2021

10:08 BST 18 August 2021

Pete Saull
Political Reporter, BBC Westminster

Image source, HoC

The Commons green benches are packed for the first time in well over a year.

The social distancing has gone - and the fact so many MPs have broken off from the summer recess highlights how strongly they feel about recent events in Afghanistan.

The prime minister is already facing a barrage of questions from all sides of the House and more will come.

Who is to blame for the Taliban’s dramatic rise to power? Could the government have done more to stop it happening? Should the UK do more than just take in up to 20,000 Afghan refugees?

The debate is due to go on until 17:00 BST

Next Labour's Chris Bryant asks about the new scheme to let in 20,000 refugees.

As you'll know, the government has said 5,000 will be brought to resettle in the UK this year.

Bryant asks: "What are the other 15,000 meant to do? Hang around and wait to be executed?"

The PM says the bulk of the effort will be in supporting people in Afghanistan and the region to prevent a worse humanitarian crisis.

He adds that in that conviction he has the support of France and Germany's leaders.