A woman dismissed by the Foreign Office after whistle-blowing on the government’s much-criticised response to the fall of Kabul has claimed she witnessed “devastating failings”, a judge has been told.
Josie Stewart was a senior official at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office when she lost her job after giving an interview to the BBC in which she spoke about her “traumatic experiences” working in the FCDO Afghanistan Crisis Centre in summer 2021.
In a test for protections for whistleblowers, she has launched a legal case against the government, challenging her dismissal after she spoke anonymously to the BBC only for her identity to be revealed when her unredacted emails were accidentally posted on social media.
The case will decide the extent of the rights of civil servants to make public interest disclosures to the press when “misleading claims” from ministers and civil servants are made to Parliament and the media, according to Ms Stewart’s lawyers.
In a hearing ahead of the tribunal, the FCDO applied to strike out parts of Ms Stewart’s witness statement concerning evidence given to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee about the evacuation from Afghanistan and the role of senior figures in those efforts and accompanying comments about the truthfulness of that evidence.
Ms Stewart’s final witness statement was referred to at a preliminary hearing at Central London Employment Tribunal hearing on Thursday, ahead of the three-week final tribunal which will start on May 2 next year.
In it, the whistleblower claims she “witnessed denial, lies and the complete lack of accountability” while working on the Afghan crisis response.
“In my career as a civil servant, I witnessed many failings within government and was privy to much information that would have made a good news story,” she said.
“I disclosed none of it.
“But through the Afghan evacuation, I witnessed both the biggest foreign policy failure of our time and the shameful handling of the resulting crisis.
“I knew people, friends and former colleagues whose lives were on the line.
“And then I witnessed the denial, the lies and the complete lack of accountability for these devastating failings.
“Our established systems of scrutiny were not working, so I felt I had no choice but to enable the public to know the truth.
“It should not have been necessary to do what I did. I am angry that I had to.
“The loss of my career has impacted me profoundly, and I do not think this is fair.
“I believe that the law should protect people who disclose information in the public interest, in exceptional circumstances such as these.”
Taliban celebrate anniversary of withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan – in pictures
Oral submissions by Ms Stewart’s legal team were made on Thursday and a judgment on whether the challenged evidence should be struck out or not is to be handed down at a later date.
“We do say, quite straightforwardly, that the public position of the Foreign Office in Parliament and in the press failed to acknowledge the failings of the Afghan Crisis Centre,” said Gavin Millar KC, for the claimant.
Referencing Ms Stewart’s evidence, he said that on August 26, 2021, the prime minister at the time, Boris Johnson, was quoted in the national media as saying: “We’ve got the overwhelming majority of those to whom we owe that debt out of Afghanistan.”
But Ms Stewart has challenged this as a “misleading statement”.
“I knew this to be a lie, because I knew no one had conducted any exercise to even identify who specifically the people to whom we owed a debt were, the majority of emails in the crisis mailboxes had not been read, and, based on my personal knowledge of the UK’s activities in Afghanistan, I knew that only a fraction of those who met the LOTR [leave outside the immigration rules] criteria had made it through our process and been evacuated,” she said.
“I believe that the prime minister must have known this.”
She also suggested that oral evidence given by the foreign secretary at the time, Dominic Raab, to the Foreign Affairs Committee on September 1, 2021, was also “misleading”.
“Mr Raab was asked by the committee if he was content that the effort within the crisis centre matched requirements. He said yes,” she said.
On Wednesday, Ben Cooper KC, for the FCDO, argued that admitting the challenged evidence to the tribunal would involve “improper questioning” of proceedings in Parliament in breach of Article Nine of the Bill of Rights 1689 and general principles of parliamentary privilege.
Article Nine says: “The freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.”
In an interview with The Guardian in February, Ms Stewart, who was head of illicit finance at the FCDO, warned civil servants increasingly saw it as their job to protect ministers rather than to serve the public.
She said the change could be traced back to Mr Johnson’s time as prime minister and that it was particularly striking in the summer of 2021 as the Afghan capital, Kabul, fell in the face of the Taliban advance.
Ms Stewart joined the Department for International Development in 2015 and remained an employee when it merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to form the FCDO in 2020 before she was dismissed in September 2022.
“The cabinet secretary is proud to lead a civil service that works day in, day out to deliver the government’s priorities for the people of this country,” a Cabinet Office spokesman has said.
“His focus is on ensuring the whole of government is working together to put in place the very best public services for the British people.”
An FCDO spokesman added: “We are rightly proud of our staff who worked tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people from Afghanistan within a fortnight.
“This was the biggest mission of its kind in generations and the second-largest evacuation carried out by any country. We implemented lessons learnt from the Afghanistan response in our response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
The FCDO has been approached for comment in response to Ms Stewart’s statement.
Poacher
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Tuesday (UAE kick-off times)
Leicester City v Brighton (9pm)
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United (11.15pm)
Wednesday
Manchester United v Sheffield United (9pm)
Newcastle United v Aston Villa (9pm)
Norwich City v Everton (9pm)
Wolves v Bournemouth (9pm)
Liverpool v Crystal Palace (11.15pm)
Thursday
Burnley v Watford (9pm)
Southampton v Arsenal (9pm)
Chelsea v Manchester City (11.15pm)
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Gunn%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Pratt%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Dave%20Bautista%2C%20Vin%20Diesel%2C%20Bradley%20Cooper%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Brighton, Sunday, 6pm UAE
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Personalities on the Plate: The Lives and Minds of Animals We Eat
Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press
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THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
Result
Qualifier: Islamabad United beat Karachi Kings by eight wickets
Fixtures
Tuesday, Lahore: Eliminator 1 - Peshawar Zalmi v Quetta Gladiators
Wednesday, Lahore: Eliminator 2 – Karachi Kings v Winner of Eliminator 1
Sunday, Karachi: Final – Islamabad United v Winner of Eliminator 2
Race card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
- Braun Strowman and Nicolas won the Raw Tag Team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro
- AJ Styles retained the WWE World Heavyweight title against Shinsuke Nakamura
- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
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Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
More from Aya Iskandarani
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
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