Well, they can't (help themselves that is). I am referring of course to the Westminster clique going under the nom de guerre of "The government". The roll call of broken promises and obfuscations (or lies as you and I know them) from that organisation and its members goes on and on.

The latest is the thing named ARAP; Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, alternatively known as ACRS. Back on December 29th  2020, the Defence Minister and the Home Secretary went off for a jolly to Afghanistan where they announced the plan to set up ARAP, to come into effect "next year". The idea behind ARAP was to augment an existing scheme to relocate Afghan interpreters in gratitude for their service. The new scheme as announced by the pair would mean "anyone facing imminent risk such as intimidation or threat to life will be offered priority relocation regardless of their employment status, rank or role, or length of time served". A laudable policy and one could see the need for this, given the parlous state of affairs in Afghanistan at the time.

Roll on to April 1st 2021 when the government formally announced ARAP, setting out details in the ARAP Announcement It can be seen from the announcement that a lot of work was being put into this scheme and it all, on the face of it, seems sensible and worthy of praise. Hah! Don't let the pages of words catch you out! Remember, this was issued 1st April so presumably lots of politicians and civil servants would have been beavering away (government speak = "working incredibly hard") through April and through May, followed by June and July. Then, on 14th August, the proverbial hit the fan and we all saw the scenes on TV of the chaos at Kabul airport. No problem, we would think, the government have been working on their cunning plan to address this and the problems it brings so all they have to do is push a button on a PC somewhere and the organisation will swing into action. Just like that! Don't be so bloody naive, Kelvin! We know what happened. The British ambassador had gone off for his hols and was therefore not to be bothered; misguided staff (presumably at the Embassy) gave those expecting protection and relocation under ARAP instructions to go and wait outside the airport where they could be conveniently blown up by a suicide bomber; a member of parliament in London managed to arrange for an ex-Boot Neck and his dogs to get on a flight out of Kabul, while hundreds of the people that ARAP was designed to protect were left to their own devices. There was even talk of these people being encouraged to get themselves into another neighbouring country (eg Pakistan) where they could receive consular assistance. The UK government encouraging "illegal immigration"! Imagine that!

Anyway, once the dust had died down and the plight of these people left behind was fading from the news, the government came up with another Baldrick style plan, announcing on August 18th the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme. afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme God knows why they felt the need to come up with this plan, unless it was due to their having just noticed that the one the civil servants & MPs had been working on since April 1st (ARAP) was either unworkable/total crap/non-existent. Probably all 3. There were 6 issues/re-issues of this plan between 18th August and 13th September 2021. The penultimate paragraph is telling. It says "The scheme is not yet open. Please check this page regularly. Further details will be announced in due course." Today is December 15th so progress on this plan is zero over 3 months. And the final paragraph says "If you are a British or non-British national in Afghanistan and in need of assistance, view our support page for details". Do they really think these people, possibly hiding in some mountainous region can just open their iPhone and get a good, useful link to HM Government''s web service? When I personally can have difficulty getting 3G service in London? They really ought to be advised to "take more water with it"!

As of today, it is not known how many Afghan interpreters, servants of HM Government etc have managed to get to the promised land of UK. Some undoubtedly have but it is impossible to say how many of these came pre or post Kabul collapse. It can be safely assumed that none will have made it here under the auspices of ARAP. It (ARAP) is not yet up and running. Up and running or not, the government yesterday made changes to the Immigration rules, essentially narrowing the criteria for eligibility for those mentioned in the ARAP/ACRS schemes for entry to the UK. The former British Ambassador to Kabul has warned this will cost lives. Read about it here: Changes to rules

To summarise; high sounding and well meaning words were used to describe how the UK recognises  the problems that may be faced by UK government employees if a vengeful Taliban should come to power. A couple of apparently well intended Acts were written up and published explaining how the government was planning to implement appropriate measures to take care of these people. Virtually one year after the vacuous Patel and Ben Wallace uttered their pieces to camera, nothing has happened. Other than tightening the rules, ensuring the Taliban's butchers bill will probably increase.