On Twitter, Farthing claimed that an official working for defence minister Ben Wallace had initially prevented his team and animals from getting flights out of the country where thousands are seeking to leave before a US departure deadline of August 31. Their case has become a major story in the UK and led to regular questions for senior ministers, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Amid the desperate mission to evacuate Afghans to the United Kingdom after the Taliban’s capture of Kabul, the British defence minister is embroiled in a bitter dispute about the plight of a former soldier and his animal rescue charity.įormer Royal Marine Paul “Pen” Farthing has been seeking to leave Afghanistan with the staff of his Nowzad charity and the dogs and cats for which they cared before the US evacuation deadline at the end of August.