How Can You Ignore Us Now, Mr Sunak?

RAF chief who fought the Taliban joins army top brass and MPs backing our call to PM: Give brave Afghan pilot who flew with our forces asylum in Britain NOW

- Holly Bancroft

An Afghan war hero facing deportation to Rwanda must be offered a "safe haven" in the UK, the former head of RAF forces in Afghanistan has said.

Air Marshal Edward Stringer, who was also director of operations at the Ministry of Defence, has backed The Independent's campaign to grant the pilot asylum, saying: "Now is the time for us to demonstrate the decency on which we so pride ourselves." Britain owes Afghan veterans a "debt of honour", he said. "Many of those in the Afghan forces served with distinction alongside us. We should stand by those brave men."

In an op-ed drawing on his years of experience, Air Marshal Stringer described the real risk to life that faces those Afghans who served alongside coalition forces. “Many of those in the Afghan forces served with distinction alongside us – and the Taliban will never forget that,” he said. “We owe them all a debt of honour and should offer them asylum, and the security we promised them, in the UK – not least because we could not guarantee them safety and security in Afghanistan.”