Labour slams Tory ‘public scrap’ over fate of Afghan commandos and back our calls to bring them to UK

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery Shadow armed forces minister Luke Pollard said ‘we should honour the commitments made to Afghans’ Two days later, veterans minister Johnny Mercer and security minister Tom Tugendhat seemingly contradicted Mr Heappey and argued that the Afghan special forces should receive sanctuary in the United Kingdom. Mr Pollard criticised the “contradiction of positions and confusion between ministers”, adding: “A public scrap between the Ministry of Defence and the Office of Veterans Affairs is unhelpful.” He said there was “strong cross-party support for the Triples to be given sanctuary in the UK” and asked Mr Heappey to update MPs in the Commons on the situation in the New Year. open image in gallery Armed forces minister James Heappey said ‘not everyone will be eligible even if they worked for the Afghan security forces’ Colonel Simon Diggins, former defence attaché in Kabul, said: “The case for admitting the Triples should be cast iron and irrefutable. I strongly support the cross-party calls, including from government ministers, for the Triples to be admitted without delay: lives, literally, depend on it.” Major General Charlie Herbert, who worked with the Triples in Afghanistan, said: “No other Afghan forces were more closely aligned to the UK armed forces during the war in Afghanistan than CF333 and ATF444.