Yesterday Andrew spoke in the debate on the Afghanistan crisis, and pledged to continue doing all he can to help families that have contacted him from the country, get to safety.
You can watch Andrews speech here - https://www.facebook.com/bowie4wak/videos/370420071129008
And read the full text of Andrews speech here -
"As we sit talking here today, thousands of men and women are frightened for their lives and the lives of their families. Thousands of men and women who believed us and the entire West when, in October 2001, in the dark shadow of that awful day the previous month, that we were engaging in Afghanistan, in the words of president George W Bush, to defeat Al Qaeda, remove the Taliban from power and that, “the oppressed people of Afghanistan would know the generosity of America and our allies.”
They believed the words of our own Prime Minister Tony Blair when he told the US Congress that “We are fighting for the inalienable right of humankind - black or white, Christian or not, left, right or a million different - to be free, free to raise a family in love and hope, free to earn a living and be rewarded by your efforts, free not to bend your knee to any man in fear.
We have done great things over the last 20 years and our veterans can be incredibly proud of the things they have achieved in Afghanistan. But these words must sound hollow to the men, women and children huddled in the airport in Kabul at this very moment.
Just about every MP in this place is in some way involved, I am sure, in trying to get people out of that country.
Among them is a man, the name of whom I will not share for obvious reasons, a man who worked for the British Government. Who has certificates and commendations from the Coldstream Guards, the Royal Air Force, a certificate thanking him for his service in the year of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. He believed in us. In us and the American mission. He believed in our mission to rebuild Afghanistan from half a century of bloodshed.
Right now that man is sitting with his entire family at the airport in Kabul. Him, his wife, his four children and his 73-year-old mother. His wife, his kids and he were offered safe passage out of the country but was told his elderly and vulnerable mother would not be allowed to travel with them. Late on Monday night he had to make a choice…to leave with his wife and children and leave his ageing and vulnerable mother behind to whatever fate might befall her, or to stay behind.
He took the terribly difficult decision to stay. The last I heard was that he was still assisting British troops at the airport and with the help of a charity that his brother works for, is reapplying for ARAP status for his entire family. This man was only in the airport because he was assisting British nationals evacuate the country.
I have but the highest admiration for our amazing men and women in the FCDO and MOD. These have been incredibly trying times. And they have all the details of this case and I know they are working hard to get this family out.
But I will not stop trying to assist this man as I know many members of parliament are doing for many others.
In the last few days the belief in the West has been shaken. But it has not died. In America and here in the UK, not least in our excellent Secretary of State for Defence and all his staff, we have seen examples of people who still believe in the good we in the west can do and we should never forget that."
