Boris Johnson’s chief of staff spent the day watching cricket just days before Kabul fell to the Taliban last year, according to reports.
Dan Rosenfield was at the first day of the England v India Test at Lord’s on 12 August, three days before Taliban forces entered the Afghan capital, the Sunday Telegraph has claimed.
In the following days, a senior Downing Street figure ordered then foreign secretary Dominic Raab to return from his own holiday in Cyprus to deal with the crisis.
Since Kabul’s fall on 15 August, No 10 has faced criticism that it didn’t take the Taliban threat seriously until it was too late, and the withdrawal of UK forces was mismanaged.
Members of the armed forces still in Afghanistan, along with those eligible to be evacuated who had worked with the British forces, were hastily evacuated out of Kabul. Some who had worked with the UK agencies were left behind.
The newspaper also claims that Rosenfield was present at the Hundred final at Lord’s on 21 August, as the Afghanistan evacuation entered its final days and US citizens were told not to go to Kabul airport.
This week it emerged that an evacuation of cats and dogs from a British charity in Afghanistan during the fall of Kabul may have been personally approved by the prime minister.
Two emails released by the cross-party foreign affairs select committee appeared to contradict Johnson’s insistence he did not authorise the decision. In a television interview Johnson called the accusation that he had intervened “total rhubarb”.
Rosenfield has been seen as a potential makeweight for Conservative party MPs unhappy with Johnson’s leadership in recent months. Amid mounting unpopularity, it is believed a reshuffle of staff could help reset his premiership.
Some Tory MPs have privately complained that Rosenfield is not politically astute enough for a position crucial to the prime minister.
Johnson has faced calls to resign over alleged parties and Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street during lockdown.
David Davis, the former Brexit secretary who called for Johnson to resign during prime ministers’ questions earlier this month, told the Telegraph: “It is an extraordinary reflection of the work ethic and commitment of No 10 staff that a senior member of that staff is taking days off when Afghanistan is falling and No 10 demanding that ministers return from holiday.”
A No 10 source told the Telegraph: “Dan was in constant contact with the office, working long days and weekends throughout the period which saw the fall of Kabul and subsequent safe evacuation of 15,000 people in Operation Pitting.”