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LONDON — Tobias Ellwood on Wednesday quit as chairman of the House of Commons defense select committee after sparking a backlash from fellow members by urging British engagement with Afghanistan’s Taliban.
A person close to the committee confirmed multiple reports that Ellwood — who was facing a motion of no-confidence from members — had resigned the post, which plays a key role in scrutinizing British defense policy.
It comes after Ellwood, a former defense minister, sparked anger by publishing a video from a trip to Afghanistan in which he urged engagement with the group, which regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 after years of U.S. and U.K. involvement there.
In the video, Ellwood argued: “Security has vastly improved, corruption is down and the opium trade has all but disappeared.”
The footage, which was shared by the Taliban on social media, was heavily criticized by fellow MPs at the time. Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith 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?”
It left Ellwood facing a motion of no-confidence put forward by four fellow committee members, Conservative MPs Mark Francois and Richard Drax, and Labour MPs Kevan Jones and Derek Twigg.
At the time the motion was submitted, Jones told Sky News: “This is not the first time that Tobias Ellwood has made statements which don’t reflect the committee’s stance. This one is beyond the pale.”
Speaking in the House of Commons in July, Francois said Ellwood’s video “made no mention of the fact that the Taliban is still attempting to identify and kill Afghan citizens who helped our armed forces, or of the fact that young girls in Afghanistan do not even have the right to go to school.”
After significant backlash from fellow MPs, Ellwood apologized for the footage, which was deleted from social media.
