Last week, Foreign Office whistleblower Raphael Marshall rocked Westminster with a series of allegations over the UK’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. 

One of the most explosive was that Boris Johnson had personally intervened to ensure the evacuation of animals from the Nowzad rescue shelter, run by former Marine Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing.

According to Marshall, ‘there was a direct trade-off between transporting Nowzad’s animals and evacuating British nationals and Afghans evacuees, including Afghans who had served with British soldiers’. No 10’s response was swift. 

‘This claim is untrue. It was an operation decision. Neither the PM nor Mrs Johnson were involved,’ a spokesman said. They were lying.

Last week, Foreign Office whistleblower Raphael Marshall rocked Westminster with a series of allegations over the UK’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. One of the most explosive was that Boris Johnson had personally intervened to ensure the evacuation of animals from the Nowzad rescue shelter, run by former Marine Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing

Last week, Foreign Office whistleblower Raphael Marshall rocked Westminster with a series of allegations over the UK’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. One of the most explosive was that Boris Johnson had personally intervened to ensure the evacuation of animals from the Nowzad rescue shelter, run by former Marine Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing

A Cabinet Minister, who is very close to Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, contacted me. Referring to Boris, the Minister said: ‘He 100 per cent intervened. Boris won the battle for Ben’s freedom to evacuate the animals. He was furious during the whole thing – it was awful for him.’

A senior Downing Street official was also available for me to speak with. ‘Carrie [Johnson]Boris was at Boris’s side to help the animals. She kept telling him he had to help get them out.’

Marshall made the complaints to the Foreign Office internally, and they were also publicized. While it is not public yet, I believe a report was produced that addresses his claims in depth. Someone with knowledge of its contents told me it states that a decision to evacuate the animals was taken ‘by a Minister outside the Foreign Office’.

Richard Nixon had a deft political touch. He secured power by capturing swathes of the US that had previously been a political no-go zone for his party. He kept it through a populist appeal to a ‘silent majority’ and triumphed in a culture war by defining himself as against a despised liberal elite

Richard Nixon was a skilled politician. By capturing vast swathes that were previously politically no-go zones for his party, he secured power. He kept it through a populist appeal to a ‘silent majority’ and triumphed in a culture war by defining himself as against a despised liberal elite

His spokeswoman said that the Minister in question was not Ben Wallace. She said: ‘Throughout Operation Pitting [the evacuation’s codename]The Secretary of State prioritized people over animals. No change was made to the policy. He didn’t intervene. His position all along was he would not prioritise this.’

She added: ‘At no time did the Prime Minister ask the Secretary of State to engage with Nowzad or their representatives.’

They were contacted by someone. On August 25, the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Private Secretary Trudy Harrison sent Farthing a letter. It said: ‘I have received confirmation from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence that you, your staff and their dependants are permitted to travel.’

It added: ‘The Secretary of State has also confirmed that animals under the care of Nowzad can be evacuated on a separate flight. The Ministry of Defence will ensure that a flight slot is available.’

Marshall says he believes the decision to evacuate the animals directly put the lives of British soldiers at risk – because troops were needed to physically escort them on to the airport.

He also claims Nowzad staff members were evacuated to Pakistan when other vulnerable Afghans – including British Army interpreters – were left to their fate.

The Nowzad evacuation was a scandal. However, it also revealed something about Boris’s current operations and, in turn, the way the country is being run at present.

As the fiasco over the party that wasn’t a party has underlined, they cannot stop lying.

‘It’s endemic,’ one Minister told me. ‘They can’t help themselves. It’s like an addiction. Every time they are presented with any sort of problem, the default position is to just lie about it rather than actually tackle it.’

This could be due to many reasons. Boris is the obvious reason. As a former Minister said: ‘He treats facts like he treats all his relationships – utterly disposable once inconvenient.’

Another issue is the Pavlovian way Downing Street responds to any negative issues surrounding the Prime Minister’s wife.

In Boris’s mind’s eye, he is the heir to his great hero, Churchill. But he’s starting to resemble another of history’s great international statesmen

In Boris’s mind’s eye, he is the heir to his great hero, Churchill. But he’s starting to resemble another of history’s great international statesmen

As one Government official told me: ‘It’s treated like a loyalty test. Will you defend Carrie as far as possible? If you can show you’re prepared to lie for her, then you pass.’

Some others point out wider cultural or structural issues in No 10. ‘There’s no one with any authority in there who’s got the stature to tell him, “No Boris, we’re not going to say that. It’s not true. It will come back to bite us.” ’

Now the lies start to snap and snarl at him.

Labour has jumped ahead in the polls. Tory MPs have become mutinous. Insiders of the party believe that the North Shropshire election is lost.

One Tory backbencher said: ‘I was in PMQs. When Starmer said that stuff about the Queen sitting alone at Prince Philip’s funeral and the moral authority to lead, it was painful to watch. Because it was true.’

Maybe it was. Boris is not a good candidate for morality lessons. Bluffing is his method. It’s served him well, carrying him from City Hall to the highest office in the land.

And for all the piety, there is a precedent – running from Suez through to Saddam’s WMDs – of British PMs playing fast and loose with the truth.

So if Boris won’t change for moral reasons, perhaps he can do so for pragmatic ones.

He must first realize the extent of the lies that are not only protecting but also destroying his premiership.

Even after the video of his team joking about their Christmas bash had gone viral, No 10 were still trying to claim ‘there was no party. No rules were broken’. They’ve been caught bang to rights trying to play the British people for fools.

If that happens, then the British people will react accordingly. This is what Boris must also grasp. The next Election won’t be a fight between him and Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir Keir Starmer has been a hit with the voters. But unlike his predecessor, he doesn’t make himself unelectable merely through the act of getting out of bed.

Two starkly different visions will be presented to voters when the country goes next to the polls. The people will choose the one that they find most convincing to be No. 10. They won’t send Boris back to the tastefully renovated flat if they catch him lying through his teeth.

There’s one final thing that Boris needs to grasp.

Constant lying can not only endanger his tenure at Downing Street but also creates rifts in the future.

Although his critics won’t acknowledge it, Boris is proud of his accomplishments. The Brexit impasse was broken. Getting the vaccine into people’s arms. However, he will be unable to leave a lasting legacy if they continue as they are.

In Boris’s mind’s eye, he is the heir to his great hero, Churchill. But he’s starting to resemble another of history’s great international statesmen.

Richard Nixon was a skilled politician. Nixon won power through capturing large swathes that were previously a no-go area for his party. He kept it through a populist appeal to a ‘silent majority’ and triumphed in a culture war by defining himself as against a despised liberal elite.

But he couldn’t stop lying. Tricky Dicky made small lies and then turned them into huge lies. This led to scandals which eventually forced him from office.

We’re not there yet. Boris is still more popular than any of his adversaries would like to admit. This was evident in the Bexley By-election.

His Government’s fortunes will rise and fall on more substantive issues than where his staffers exchanged Secret Santa gifts. But things can’t go on like this.

I called Downing Street asking for their opinion on Pen Farthing. A spokesman said: ‘Neither the PM nor Mrs Johnson were involved.’

This was all a lie.