The MP for Wokingham has given his views on the mounting crisis in Afghanistan.
Sir John Redwood, the Conservative MP for Wokingham, called for migration to the UK to be ‘limited’ and voiced opposition to future military engagements in the region.
In a series of tweets, Sir Redwood said: “President Biden says he will end the US Afghan war on 31 August. He now says he will hunt down the bombers at the airport. Which is it?
“President Biden’s premature and over hasty exit from Afghanistan has left more people at risk and has damaged the reputation of NATO.
“We need to assure the world we will not do the same again in other places where we offer military support and advice to friendly governments.
“How many people does President Biden need to attack in his new Afghan war before pulling out of that?”
READ MORE: Bracknell MP praises Afghanistan evacuation but fears for women, children and LGBT+ people
His tweets appeared to contradict each other, at the same time criticising the withdrawal, while voicing displeasure at United States President Joe Biden for supposed new strikes in Afghanistan.
The tweets were written on Friday, August 27, and Saturday, August 28.
Military and humanitarian concerns are raising following a suicide bomb attack at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai Airport on Thursday, August 26, which left over 183 people dead, including 13 US soldiers.
The attack has been blamed on the Islamic State Khorasan province, a global radical Islamic terror group.
Khorasan province relates to an area which covers Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
President Joe Biden ordered military strikes on IS-K in retaliation for the suicide bombing.
After that Sir Redwood shifted his focus, stating the importance of strengthening UK border forces to protect British citizens and invest resources at home.
Sir Redwood tweeted: “Good news that UK troops and diplomats are now out of Kabul. The new task is to secure our borders, and build diplomatic alliances with those with influence against any renewed terrorism.
“Now the main Afghan rescue mission is over government needs to turn its attention to strengthening our borders and reinforcing a job rich economic recovery at home.
“We are short of homes, NHS appointments and other services. The government needs to limit the numbers of migrants to those most deserving our help to make sure we can offer good standards to those we welcome.”
READ MORE: Bracknell veteran's fresh vision for the British Army amid Afghanistan crisis
These tweets were written on Tuesday, August 31, and Wednesday, September 1.
A new scheme to resettle Afghan refugees, the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, was announced on Wednesday, August 18, and will see a total of 20,000 refugees brought to the UK, with 5,000 entering in the first year.
Wokingham Borough Council has reached out to Central Government to offer support for three Afghan families.
Also, the council’s leader Councillor John Halsall (Conservative, Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe) said support for refugees would be made available and that residents could help out by donating to The Cowshed crisis charity and the Reading Refugee Support Group.
Neighbouring Bracknell Forest Council has committed to rehoming two families under the Locally Employed Staff (LES) resettlement scheme, which was set up alongside the Government’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP), which was established in 2013.
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