Thread by @tnewtondunn

Commons recall debate on Afghanistan: MPs will now sit for an extra 3 hours until 5pm today, as so many want to speak.

PM immediately bombarded with interventions. Asked by Tobias Ellwood whether he will agree to an independent inquiry into UK’s involvement in Afghanistan? Johnson signals no - “many of the questions have already been answered” - to heckles of anger from MPs on both sides.

Johnson says he spoke to UK ambassador in Kabul Laurie Bristow this morning: “The situation has stabilised since the weekend, but remains precarious. At the moment, the Taliban are allowing the evacuation to go ahead”.

In stark contrast to Joe Biden, Johnson praises Afghan security forces’ “bravery and sacrifice”. Adds: “We should not forget that thousands gave their lives”.

Johnson insists the West could not - and should not - continue the Afghan mission without American support. “I do not believe deploying tens of thousands of British troops to fight the Taliban is an option that would commend itself to the British people or this House”.

Johnson also insists there was no appetite among NATO allies to replace the US. But he’s pushed hard by MPs on how hard he really tried to build a new coalition. Theresa May asks him when he first spoke to Jens Stoltenberg about this. PM ducks a date to only say “the other day”.

Emotions running very high in the chamber. Dozens of MPs still trying to make their points to the PM on an array of issues. But Johnson has stopped taking any interventions.

Starmer accuses Johnson of a failure of leadership to mitigate pull out’s consequences, with NATO or as chair of G7: “The Prime Minister’s response to the Taliban arriving at the gates of Kabul was to go on holiday. You cannot coordinate an international response from the beach”.

Theresa May speaks after Starmer, and is also excoriating on the Johnson government’s failure to do more. “Was our intelligence really so poor? Or did we just feel we had to follow the United States, and on a wing and a prayer it would be alright on the night?”

More from May, on what will be one of the most powerful speeches of the day: “What message does this send around the world? What does it say about us as a nation? What does it say to our enemies? We boast about Global Britain but where was Global Britain on the streets of Kabul?”

Tom Tugendhat is the first Afghan veteran to speak, to a completely silent house. Powerful mourns the West’s collapse of will. “Let’s stop talking about forever wars. Peace is won over time. The tragedy about Afghanistan is we’ve swapping patience for fire, for a second war”.

Tugendhat finishes: “This doesn’t have to be defeat, but at the moment it damn well feels like it”. He sits down to spontaneous applause from MPs.

Another powerful speech from another Afghan veteran, Johnny Mercer, warning of "a bow wave of mental health challenges" to come. Demands more for all vets. "The Prime Minister has consistently failed to honour what he said he would do. He must not wriggle out of his commitments".

Tory MP Nusrat Ghani breaks down in the Commons as she reveals how Afghan women she has worked with are phoning her from Kabul to say "it's game over". Describes the pull out as "catastrophic, cack-handed, cruel and humiliating".

Summing up to end 7 hours of debate, Dominic Raab responds to IDS to say the UK Govt "tested very rigorously" the US’s plan to pull out when it was told about it. IDS actually wanted to know if Raab had asked the Biden administration to reconsider. Raab did not say he had.

Raab reveals the Foreign Office's rapid deployment team only finally arrived in Kabul "last night" - 4 full days after the ambassador and MoD began the evacuation.