Ex-Tory minister pleads for UK to engage with Taliban amid 'another 9/11' fear

10 January 2024 , 18:13

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Tory MP Tobias Ellwood called on the UK to re-establish relations with the Taliban (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A former Tory minister has pleaded with the Government to re-establish relations with the Taliban - warning of "another 9/11" if the country is abandoned.

Tobias Ellwood said that the majority of Taliban members aren't fundamentalists, claiming many join the group for social and tribal reasons. Mr Ellwood, who quit as Defence Committee chairman after a backlash when he called for improved relations last summer, warned a humanitarian, terrorism and economic crisis is "looming".

He said: "We've abandoned a country, and that turns into an incubator for terrorism." And Mr Ellwood quoted US Senator Lindsey Graham, who said: "If we abandon Afghanistan out of frustration and weariness we pave the way for another 9/11."

Mr Ellwood said ordinary Afghans are being punished because the Taliban is in charge - but questioned whether all members are as extreme as many believe. He said a split between pragmatists in capital Kabul and hardliners in Kandahar has opened up, with only 40% of members signed up to the "full religious ideology".

In response Government minister Andrew Mitchell said the Government is "some way" from fully recognising the Taliban. But he said British officials have visited Kabul and held meetings with Taliban officials.

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Tobias Ellwood says the current approach to Afghanistan isn't working (Getty Images)

Mr Ellwood told a Westminster Hall debate: "No doubt it (the Taliban) remains an ultra conservative movement with the most ruthless interpretation of sharia law in the world. But there are differences between Kandahar and Kabul."

He told MPs that he'd witnessed women continue to work as doctors and in key ministries and airports during a visit last year. Mr Ellwood said he'd questioned this, stating: "The answer was that licences are quietly issued allowing women to work in these occupations."

Mr Ellwood added that many Kabul-based Taliban leaders send their daughters to school in Dubai. And he cited research claiming that just 40% of Taliban members are fully signed up to the full religious ideology.

He said others join for different reasons, stating: "They simply join the Taliban because that's what happens in Afghanistan when any force looks like they're going to win, everyone sees the change in the wind and joins sides."

Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate, Mr Ellwood said there is "no clarion call for regime change" among the Afghan population. He said: "That begs the very difficult question - if the Afghan people are not calling for it, should we continue to punish the Afghan people because the Taliban are in charge?

He said that $9billion of frozen assets could be used as leverage in "improving rights for women and girls if we used it more cognitively". Mr Ellwood sparked a backlash after calling for the UK to re-establish links with Afghanistan.

But doubling down, he said the current approach is "ineffective", stating: "As the saying goes, we may have lost interest in Afghanistan but Afghanistan has not lost interest in us." He continued: "Our approach to Afghanistan is not just at the moment incoherent, it's ineffectual."

Foreign Office minister Mr Mitchell said: "Our intention has been to re-establish a diplomatic presence in Kabul when the security and political situation allows. We don't believe that this is the cast at the moment, but officials continue to visit and will keep it under review.

"We're clear that we must have a pragmatic dialogue with the Taliban, however this doesn't amount to recognition. We're some way off moving to recognise the Taliban, we need to keep the pressure with them to change their approach."

Dave Burke