The Ministry of Defence refused to let Mr. Farthing privately funded commercial plane land in the Kabul military airfield. It doesn't want people to see animals getting on a flight.
RORY TINGLE: A former Royal Marine who set up an animal rescue charity in Kabul said he would be forced to put his cats and dogs down after a minister vowed to ‘prioritise people over pets’. Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing, 52, founder of Nowzad, said Boris Johnson had approved a charter flight he had crowdfunded to fly 69 staff and 100 animals to the UK. But he claimed Defence Secretary Ben Wallace blocked the flight by refusing to grant air signs needed for it to land at Kabul airport. A Ministry of Defence spokesman denied the claims…
Mr Farthing, 52, has complained about being ‘left to fend for myself’ after organising the flight for his 25 Afghan staff as well as the charity’s dogs and cats. He announced the UK Government granted visas for all of his staff and their dependents… Mr Farthing told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘Today we still do not have anything from the MoD, in fact they cut me off. ‘I did have an emergency line that I could call if I was in trouble or needed to report something that’s going on but that’s been cut so I’ve been literally left now on my own in enemy-held territory. I just can’t get my head around that’…
‘We’ve got a privately-funded plane that can take 250 passengers out, 69 of them would be me and the staff, but we’ve got an empty cargo hold. I don’t understand the problems here, I’m not asking the MoD to give me a plane I just need to have a call sign.’ Mr Farthing claimed he had not received documents from the Home Office that would allow his staff to get past Taliban checkpoints and leave the country… Mr Farthing said: ‘If they won’t allow me on to that aircraft then I’ll have to put all my dogs and cats to sleep on the runway’…
Mr Farthing said the Ministry of Defence refused to let his privately funded commercial plane land in the Kabul military airfield. He said: ‘It’s a privately funded aircraft, I only want to take out 69 people and the cargo hold is empty so we’re going to put dogs and cats into it. ‘No taxpayer money will go into this. We’ve got 130 spare seats on that aircraft we can fill with people entitled to come to Britain’… He went on to claim the reason his flight had been blocked is that the Ministry of Defence doesn’t want people to see animals getting on a flight…
But Mr Wallace – himself a former soldier – told LBC that Mr Farthing’s claim about being abandoned by the MoD was ‘b******s’. In a round of interviews, the clearly frustrated politician said that while the animal charity boss had done ‘amazing’ work, all the plane would achieve if it landed in Kabul was to ‘block the airfield’ and ‘sit there empty’… Mr Wallace said a charter flight would hamper rescue efforts, adding: ‘I’m not prepared to prioritise pets over people’…
But a Sky News video of a Vauxhall hatchback entering a military cargo jet prompted a counter-blast from animal rights activists… Celebrities including actor Mr Gervais and Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden, who back the Nowzad charity, today slammed the Government’s attitude towards evacuating animals… Comedian Ricky Gervais and actor Peter Egan, who accused the MoD of caring more about a car than ‘sentient animals’. In response to the anger, an MOD source said today: ‘The car was a civilian armoured vehicle (probably part of the UK Embassy fleet)…
Mr Gervais wrote in response to the video: ‘@PenFarthing is brave and kind. Such honour should be rewarded. He’s still trying to save others in the face of grave danger. He shouldn’t be left behind. And they rescued a f*****g car? Shame.’ Writing on Twitter, Gervais said: ‘Dear stupid c**ts saying we shouldn’t put animals before people.. 1. The animals go in the hold where people can’t go. 2. This is an extra, privately funded plane that will allow MORE people to be saved. #OperationArk’… Actor Peter Egan added: ‘Can it be possible that @BWallaceMP is ok about airlifting a car but not sentient animals!!’…
Outraged social media users have taken to Twitter to vent their frustrations at the Government’s alleged actions… One wrote: ‘Dear British Government, the eyes of the world are watching, not just those of the UK. It is absolutely essential this life saving flight goes ahead without delay and with all onboard (including animals). I would urge you to ensure everything is in place without delay’…
While another said: ‘Furious and feel sick. How can people be so evil!!! Boris Johnson GET THIS SORTED! I can’t believe we were all praising you this morning, we thought you were doing the right thing!!!!’ And another wrote: ‘This is horrendous. Heartbreaking. The UK government have failed in every aspect and I am so sorry to see it now affecting you and #nowzad. I am praying for you, your staff and animals to get back safely. Stay safe’. SOURCE…
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