by Priti Patel, member for Witham and home secretary
SOME of you – the wrong ones – are getting worked up over what is happening in Kabul. Let me explain why doing nothing is the moral thing to do.
When you act in haste you repent in leisure. Look at Jamaica – we let all those people in simply because our post-war economy needed them, and decades later it’s caused me all kinds of trouble.
Plus Dominic Raab’s had a very hard year. Do you just want him to curtail his holiday? You should be ashamed, and if the Afghan people want that they should be ashamed too.
It’s incumbent on us to provide a good example. Yes, we could act immediately in the face of this humanitarian crisis. But recalling parliament and scheduling a good long debate is a beautiful demonstration of how democracies function.
And when you see those desperate crowds at the airport, storming planes in fear for their lives, notice what you’re not seeing. That’s right, anyone forming a polite and orderly queue. This shows me they’re not aligned with British values.
Also, what happened to second chances? The Taliban might have changed. If people aren’t given the opportunity to atone for their mistakes, I wouldn’t be in government after getting kicked out the first time, which would be a tragedy.
So once again, like when we joined the invasion in 2001, Britain will be taking the moral high ground.
If it is as bad as everyone says and another invasion is necessary? Then Britain will once again be front-and-centre, bombs ready and guns cocked. America won’t need to ask twice. Because we do the right thing.
