The chairman of the British Defense Committee in the House of Commons has resigned due to continued criticism of his video call to reopen his country’s embassy in Afghanistan.
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood announced the move yesterday evening on the online platform X, formerly Twitter. Although he believes that he still has a majority of members on the committee behind him, the dynamics and effectiveness are not the same without the support of everyone.
In the video, which was published in mid-July and deleted soon afterwards, Ellwood praised Afghanistan’s alleged progress since the Taliban came to power in the summer of 2021. Among other things, he spoke of an improved security situation and corruption and opium cultivation had been curbed. He called for cooperation to be resumed.
Ellwood’s video was met with harsh criticism from fellow MPs as well as human rights and women’s rights activists because, for example, it hardly addressed the exclusion of girls and women from education and public life. According to the BBC, United Nations figures also show that, far from decreasing, opium cultivation has increased.
The Tory MP had previously made many enemies in his own group by demanding that Great Britain should re-enter the European internal market. After the video was published, he came under pressure from several quarters. He was threatened with a vote of no confidence.
