A senior Tory MP faces being ousted from his role as a parliamentary committee chair after he posted a video in which he appeared to praise the Taliban’s leadership in Afghanistan.
Four members of the Commons Defence Committee have tabled a motion of no confidence in Tobias Ellwood: Labour MPs Kevan Jones and Derek Twigg, along with Conservative MPs Mark Francois and Richard Drax.
Mr Jones told Sky News: “This is not the first time that Tobias Ellwood has made statements which don’t reflect the committee’s stance. This one is beyond the pale.”
It is the first time that the provision to remove a committee chair has been used since it was introduced in 2010.
The vote is expected to take place on 14 September.
The committee has 11 members in total, meaning six votes would be needed to remove him.
Sky News understands the MPs told him to stand down or they would table the no confidence motion.
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Mr Ellwood apologised this morning after posting the video on social media earlier this week.
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Posting the video – which was retweeted by the Taliban’s official spokesman – Mr Ellwood said this “war-weary nation” was now “accepting a more authoritarian leadership in exchange for stability”.
The senior Conservative, whose brother was killed by Islamist extremists, urged the UK to reopen its embassy in Afghanistan – saying: “If the EU’s embassy can open up, so can ours.”
Mr Ellwood also drew criticism when he said: “Shouting from afar will not improve women’s rights.”
He faced an immediate backlash over his comments – with former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg saying it was “foolish and ill-advised” and “could have been issued by the Afghan tourist board”.
Fellow defence committee member Mark Francois said the video as “utterly bizarre” – and said one of his colleagues had described it as a “wish you were here” video.
“He made no mention of the fact that the Taliban are still attempting to identify and kill Afghan citizens who helped our Armed Forces, and also makes no specific mention of the fact that young girls in Afghanistan don’t even have the right to go to school under that government,” Mr Francois said.
“I wish to make plain, on behalf of the committee, he was speaking for himself, even though he used the title of chairman of our committee in a number of associated articles. Not in our name.”
Mr Ellwood said the reflections from his “personal visit” could have been better worded.
He added: “I am sorry for my poor communication.
“I stand up, speak my mind, try to see the bigger picture and offer solutions, especially on the international stage, as our world turns a dangerous corner. I don’t always get it right.”
But he appeared to defend some of his initial thoughts – reiterating that “our current strategy of shouting from afar, after abruptly abandoning the country in 2021, is not working”.
Mr Ellwood argued: “My simple call to action was to see our embassy reopen again and pursue a more direct strategy to help the 40 million people we abandoned.”
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NATO left Afghanistan nearly two years ago in a chaotic withdrawal that saw the Taliban take back power in the country.
Since its return, the Taliban has reinstated bans on education for girls – and introduced laws stopping women from going to work.
The group has also banned women’s beauty salons, and prevented women from being in public spaces such as parks and gyms.
