Harrison’s letter, which emerged on Tuesday night , was dated 25 August and signed by her in her capacity as MP for Copeland in Cumbria and as “parliamentary private secretary to the prime minister”.It spelled out that the Foreign Office, Home Office and the Ministry of Defence – which had made last-minute objections – had cleared the way for Farthing and staff at his Nowzad charity to be evacuated from Kabul’s airport.

After four years serving as the "Chief Mouser" in the United Kingdom's Foreign Office, a black-and-white rescue cat named Palmerston is stepping "away from the limelight" and going into retirement.