THE SNP have said expressing regret is “not enough” for the many vulnerable people the UK Government is abandoning in Afghanistan – and called on UK ministers to significantly increase support for refugees and develop a clear plan to provide safe routes for evacuation, relocation and resettlement.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford hit out as UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Britain’s evacuation effort in Kabul had entered its final hours. He said it has largely ended processing new evacuees and admitted around 1000 Afghans could be left behind.

Wallace added: “It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process”.

Blackford said British troops and personnel had shown “extraordinary courage and bravery” during the evacuation effort – but the UK Government has had 18 months to plan for withdrawal and must substantially increase support for Afghan refugees and those left behind.

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Blackford added that, in time, there must be a judge-led public inquiry to hold the UK Government to account and learn lessons from “this major foreign policy disaster” – but that all efforts at present must be focused on getting as many vulnerable people to safety as possible.

“Just expressing regret is not enough for the many vulnerable people the UK Government has left abandoned in Afghanistan through its poorly planned and chaotic withdrawal,” Blackford said.

“Our troops and personnel have shown extraordinary courage and bravery throughout the evacuation effort, and they must be commended but the UK Government has had 18 months to plan for withdrawal and must take its share of responsibility for what has been one of the biggest foreign policy disasters in modern times.

“It is essential that the UK Government significantly increases support for refugees, by substantially increasing the number of refugees the UK is willing to take, and developing a clear plan to provide safe routes for evacuation, relocation and resettlement of those left behind.

“In time, Boris Johnson and Tory ministers will have serious questions to answer about their role in this foreign policy disaster, and there must be a judge-led inquiry on the withdrawal to hold the UK Government to account and learn lessons but all efforts at the present time must be focused on getting as many vulnerable people to safety as possible.

“Scotland stands ready to do its part to welcome vulnerable Afghan refugees and enable them to rebuild their lives in communities across our country.”

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Wallace said yesterday morning as airlifts continued that the mission has not been curtailed by the terror attack that killed US troops and Afghan civilians queuing up to flee the Taliban.

He warned that the threat from terror groups will only “grow the closer we get to leaving” following the bombings believed to have been carried out by the Isis-K affiliate of Daesh on Thursday.

Despite airlifting nearly 14,000 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks, Wallace said “the sad fact is not every single one will get out”.

He declined to give a timeline for the exit of British forces as they processed approximately a further 1000 evacuees already in the airport but acknowledged it would come before the Americans withdraw, with their deadline set as Tuesday.

Wallace said the Baron Hotel processing centre, near where the suicide bombing took place, was closed at 4.30am, as was the Abbey Gate to Hamid Karzai International Airport.

“We will process the people that we’ve brought with us, the 1000 people approximately in the airfield now, and we will seek a way to continue to find a few people in the crowds where we can, but overall the main processing is now closed and we have a matter of hours,” he told Sky News.

Senior Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said the move means “many” will not now get out, despite Boris Johnson having insisted the “overwhelming majority” had been airlifted.

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“I’m not giving up but my anger and shame for those we’ve left behind to be hunted by the Taliban is growing,” the chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the looming end of the evacuation from Kabul marks a “sad and dark day”, and the government has “serious questions to answer”.

Tory former foreign and defence secretary Lord Hammond told Times Radio that the UK had “failed” in its mission to keep Afghan staff safe by not completing the evacuations.

Some 13,708 British nationals and vulnerable Afghans have been evacuated so far since the Taliban marched to power as the US drew down its troops. Officials hope civilian flights will resume at a later date, despite the Taliban’s desire for Afghans not to leave. Those left behind are currently being advised to make their own way across land borders in order to flee.