A Foreign Office whistleblower has said it was “widespread knowledge” that Boris Johnson made the decision to help evacuate an Afghanistan animal shelter.
Senior official Josie Stewart made the incendiary claim in written evidence to a Commons inquiry.
The prime minister has repeatedly denied playing any role in the decision to allow pets kept at the Nowzad animal shelter to be airlifted out of Afghanistan as the Taliban took control of the country in August
Former Royal Marine Paul “Pen” Farthing, who ran the shelter, launched a high-profile campaign to get his staff and animals out, using a plane funded through donations.
The British government sponsored clearance for a charter flight, leading to accusations that dogs had been prioritised over people.
Asked if he intervened, Johnson told reporters in December: “No. That’s complete nonsense.”
But in her testimony, published today by the Commons foreign affairs committee, Stewart directly contradicted the PM.
“It was widespread ‘knowledge’ in the FCDO Crisis Centre that the decision on Nowzad’s Afghan staff came from the prime minister,” she said.
“I saw messages to this effect on Microsoft Teams, I heard it discussed in the Crisis Centre including by senior civil servants, and I was copied on numerous emails which clearly suggested this.”
Stewart said while she was not aware of a “deliberate” decision to prioritise animals over people, it was not in line with policy.
“The issue also certainly carried significant opportunity cost in terms of the amount of senior civil servant time spent on the case,” she added.
In her submission to the committee, Stewart said she expected to lose her job as a result of speaking out but had a duty to do so if the “public or parliament has been deliberately misled by the government”.
Speaking about the Afghanistan evacuation, she added: “I feel a strong sense of moral injury for having been part of something so badly managed, and so focused on managing reputational risk and political fallout rather than the actual crisis and associated human tragedy.”
In January the committee also published an internal FCDO in which an an official said Johnson had “authorised” the evacuation of “animals”.
David Lammy, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, said: “Boris Johnson is a serial liar who is unfit to be prime minister.”