I share your concern about the deeply distressing scenes witnessed at Kabul International Airport, and I commend the tremendous efforts of our Armed Forces, and all involved in such challenging circumstances.

Ensuring the safety of British Nationals, deployed military personnel, and Afghans who risked their lives working alongside the UK is the Government's immediate priority at this time. In recent days, the Ministry of Defence has implemented its contingency plans for evacuating British nationals and former staff in Afghanistan. 900 military personnel have been deployed to Kabul, alongside the Foreign Office Rapid Deployment Team, all of whom are working to support consular personnel and facilitate the safe passage of these persons out of Afghanistan.

Thousands of Afghan locally employed staff who risked their lives supporting our military efforts have already been relocated to the UK with thousands more in the pipeline for evacuation before our drawdown is complete. I have been assured that our capable Armed Forces are working tirelessly to ensure they maximise the amount of vulnerable people we will bring to the UK in this finite window of time.

A new and bespoke resettlement scheme has also been announced with the potential of accommodating up to 20,000 of the most vulnerable over the long-term.

Please be assured that I will continue to monitor the situation very closely and of course the Government will need to think very carefully going forward about how to protect as many people as possible who may be persecuted by the new regime.