Senior Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood has hastily apologised and deleted a video in which he praised the Taliban and credited the Islamist terror organization with improving Afghanistan security.
The Commons Defence Committee chairman said he was “sorry for my poor communication” after his actions outraged fellow Tory MPs and military veterans, sparking moves to challenge his leading committee role.
As Breitbart London reported, Ellwood used social media to declare described Afghanistan a “country transformed” and applauded the terrorists who seized power in August 2021, claiming “security has vastly improved, corruption is down and the opium trade has all but disappeared.”
Ellwood went on to claim that under Taliban rule, the country is at its most peaceful state “since the 1970s.”
Following the backlash, the Daily Telegraph reports a remorseful Ellwood said: “The last couple of days have probably been the most miserable as a member of parliament,” adding: “I got it wrong.”
He called the row a Twitter “storm” and said he stood by criticisms in the video about Britain’s alleged lack of engagement with Afghanistan’s new leadership since the chaotic exit of western countries’ armed forces from Kabul nearly two years ago and the resulting enforcement of Sharia Law.
Members of Afghanistan’s Powerful Women Movement in a protest in Kabul on May 10, 2022, against the Taliban’s order for women to cover fully in public, including their faces. (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty)
But Ellwood used a TV interview to repeatedly apologise and said the video “could have been much better done.”
“It’s important to put your hand up and acknowledge errors, however well intentioned,” the Bournemouth East MP and former army captain told TalkTV.
“I stand up, I speak my mind. I try and find solutions especially on the international stage, and I’m very, very sorry that my reflection of my visit could have been much better worded and have been taken out of context.”
While on a trip to India with the defence select committee, Ellwood deleted the video and issued a statement saying his reflections about Afghanistan under Taliban rule “could have been better worded” and he was sorry for “poor communication”.