Cabinet Office advisor has ‘no recollection’ of No 10 authorising Nowzad evacuation

Sir Stephen Lovegrove, a national security adviser at the Cabinet Office, has said he has “no recollection” of seeking No 10’s authorisation for the evacuation of staff and animals for the Nowzad charity from Afghanistan last August.

He said that “at the time” the government was “desperate” to evacuate as many people as possible, and that “constantly referring back to the centre of government” would have been inefficient.

In December a letter suggested that Boris Johnson’s former permanent private secretary Trudy Harrison MP was involved in the Nowzad evacuation, despite the claims being denied by 10 Downing Street the same day (7 December).

Dominic Dyer, a campaigner for the charity, has insisted that Carrie Johnson encouraged her husband to speak with defence secretary Ben Wallace in the lead up to the authorisation of Farthing’s evacuation from Afghanistan.

An email released by the committee in January, addressed from one FCDO official to a colleague, reads: “the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated”.