PM had nothing to do with Afghan dog evacuation, Pen Farthing declares

29 January 2022, 13:07 | Updated: 29 January 2022, 13:15

Pen Farthing: PM had 'nothing to do with' dog evac in Afghanistan

The ex-soldier behind the evacuation of animals from Afghanistan tells LBC he wasn't in contact with the PM beforehand.

Pen Farthing joined Matt Frei around five months since hitting the headlines for evacuating dogs and cats from Kabul as the Afghan capital moved into the hands of the Taliban.

"Did you lobby the Prime Minister or the Prime Minister's wife?" Matt asked, amid the release of an email which allegedly shows Boris Johnson to have cleared the evacuation.

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Mr Farthing told Matt that it is "well known on public record" that he pushed MPs of all parties to help him in his evacuation, all over social media.

"I have never ever messaged the prime minister personally" he insisted, adding that he had "never spoken to any MP directly."

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"If the Prime Minister was directly involved, how come I didn't get into the airport...when the British were actually running the gate?" Mr Farthing added, noting that Kabul airport was in US hands when he evacuated.

To clarify, the former marine concluded the conversation by stating that he believes Boris Johnson "he had nothing to do" with the evacuation of his animals from Kabul.