Tobias Ellwood

Niladri Singh

Chair of the Defence Committee, Tobias Ellwood, resigned from his position as head of the committee and cross-party group on September 13th. The resignation came after backlash over his comments in a video praising the Taliban. 

What has caused Tobias Ellwood to resign?

In a video posted on X, Ellwood spoke about his visit to Afghanistan in July, and claimed it was a “country transformed” which felt “different now that the Taliban had returned to power”.

He added: “Security has vastly improved, corruption is down and the opium trade has all but disappeared” since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. 

The footage has faced heavy criticism from fellow MPs and women’s organisations.

Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader, asked during a July House of Commons Afghan resettlement update: “Does the Minister agree that it is not a very welcome statement to have made given the terrible time that those women have had and the persecutions that have taken place in Afghanistan?”

Transport Minister Mark Harper said Mr Ellwood’s remarks had not “reflected what I know about Afghanistan.”

“The former chair went on to apologise for the footage”

Two Conservative members of the Defence Committee, Mark Francois and Richard Drax, were joined by Labour’s Kevan Jones and Derek Twigg in calling for a vote of no-confidence. This is the first time this measure has been used to remove a committee chair.

However, Ellwood voluntarily resigned a day before he was removed. The former chair went on to apologise for the footage. It has since been deleted from social media.

In a statement of resignation, the Conservative MP explained that “poor communications” about his engagement with Afghanistan had been “understandably criticised” and with “deep regret” he had decided to step down from his post.

What is happening in Afghanistan?

“no other country or international organisation has acknowledged the Taliban government”

The Taliban became the de facto head of state when American troops left Afghanistan in August 2021. The interim Taliban government contains no women ministers.

Afghanistan under Taliban rule remains the “most repressive” country in the world for women’s rights. Numerous punitive restrictions have been imposed on the freedom of women to travel, work and study. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the only three countries to ever recognise the Taliban’s lawful government, and Afghanistan’s UN seat remains in the control of Rabbani supporters.

Etilaatroz, the most widely circulated daily newspaper in Kabul, has also written about the discrimination of non-Pashtun ethnic-linguistic groups of Afghanistan who remain unrepresented.

Afghanistan is also the largest producer of opium. A BBC investigation found that a ban on opium cultivation introduced in April 2022 had resulted in a huge decline in poppy production, about 80 per cent down on last year. 

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Afghanistan, offered a different perspective during the 54th session of the Human Rights Council in September.

Bennett argued that people in Afghanistan were being “confronted by a humanitarian crisis” along with “a de facto regime that was violating a multitude of human rights.”

He went on to suggest the regime had “eviscerated the rights, life chances, and dignity of women and girls.”

Since 2021, the Taliban have been criticised for systemic violations against all human lives in Afghanistan.

More recently, the Afghan women’s volleyball team risked conflict, exile and threats against their loved ones to compete in Hangzhou, China at the Asian Games. The players hope their defence of the Taliban will encourage other Afghan women “to follow their dreams”.

Following Tobias Ellwood’s resignation

Ellwood’s replacement will be voted on by all MPs in a secret ballot on October 25th. Nominations will be restricted to Conservative party members. The chairmanship was allocated to a member of the party following the 2019 general election.

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Featured image courtesy of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here. 

Originally from India, Niladri holds an MA degree in Media, Journalism and Communications from Cardiff University. She is a writer and video editor at EmpoWord Journalism and talks about politics, films and culture.

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