Stuart Taylor has returned to Hamilton as the cinch Championship club’s new head coach.

The 46-year-old left his coaching role at Ross County earlier in the week.

The former St Mirren and Airdrie midfielder spent four years at Hamilton as assistant to Billy Reid from 2007, and also played during their promotion-winning season in 2008.

Taylor told the club’s official website: “I am delighted to be back at this great club, I have had many fantastic memories during my first time here and to now have the privilege to sit here as the club’s new head coach is a real honour for me.

“I am a coach who loves working with players and improving them.

“This club is well known throughout Britain for doing that and I feel coming here as a coach is a good fit.”

Taylor has had a varied coaching career, working in Qatar at the same club as his Accies predecessor Brian Rice, although not at the same time. He managed Limerick for a season and has had roles with Wolves, Stoke, and Ipswich.

Chairman Allan Maitland said: “We are delighted to have a coach of Stuart’s quality as our head coach. He knows the club well and understands what our club is all about.

“As a coach, he comes here with a great amount of experience and we look forward to working with him.”

Taylor will have a watching brief for Saturday’s match against Kilmarnock while Guillaume Beuzelin and George Cairns take charge. Both caretakers and Brian Potter will remain on the coaching staff moving forward. 

The poor health of a man accused of murdering his three-year-old son and the child’s mother more than 40 years ago may prevent him from standing trial, a court has heard.

William MacDowell, 79, allegedly killed Christina ‘Renee’ MacRae, 36, and her child Andrew, with the pair last seen driving out of Inverness on November 12 1976.

In June, his lawyer, Murray Macara QC, entered not guilty pleas to all charges on his behalf and lodged special defences of alibi and incrimination.

On Friday at the High Court in Paisley, Mr Macara said MacDowell, who was absent from court, is suffering from cardiac failure, liver failure, and lymphoma.

MacDowell, of Penrith, Cumbria, moved GPs in April and his current practice “did not feel confident about expressing an opinion about his fitness to stand trial”, Mr Macara told the court.

A medical expert has been instructed to look over MacDowell’s medical records over the next week to see if he is fit enough to be tried over the allegations, the defence lawyer said.

Judge Lord Armstrong said: “The first and most pressing issue clearly is the fitness of William MacDowell.

“We need to get the necessary information before any decision is made on other matters.”

He set a date of 9.30am on September 28 at the High Court in Glasgow for the next preliminary hearing in the case, which MacDowell was excused from attending in person.

Prosecutors allege that MacDowell assaulted his son and Ms MacRae at a lay-by on the A9 trunk road near Dalmagarry, or elsewhere, on November 12 1976 and that he caused them injury by unknown means, as a result of which they died, and murdered them.

He is also charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice by disposing of the two bodies and their personal effects by means unknown to prosecutors.

Moreover, he is accused of disposing of a pushchair, setting fire to a BMW vehicle and disposing of a boot hatch from a Volvo vehicle to conceal the alleged crimes and avoid detection, arrest and prosecution.

He denies all the charges.

The SNP and the Scottish Greens have finalised a co-operation agreement and an announcement is expected on Friday, STV News understands.

A meeting of the Scottish Cabinet approved the powersharing deal on Friday morning, but no details of the contents of the agreement have been made public.

In May, Nicola Sturgeon told MSPs talks would begin on a co-operation agreement between the two parties, which would act to formalise the majority in favour of independence, while also ensuring they work together on specific policy positions.

The talks appear to be winding down, with an email sent to Green members, first reported by the PA news agency, saying the wording of the deal would be provided to them by August 20.

Ahead of that date, the Scottish Tories and Labour have attacked the agreement.

Tory net zero spokesman Liam Kerr said the Green manifesto from May’s election was a “doctrine to start a war on working Scotland”, after it proposed a move away from North Sea oil and gas, and the end of new road-building projects.

Greens have insisted their proposals to end extraction and exploration in the North Sea would be part of a “just transition” and would include retraining for the workforce in the north east.

“Patrick Harvie will push for the end of the oil and gas industry at the first chance he gets, abandoning the 100,000 jobs which depend on it,” Kerr said.

“They have no interest in energy transition. They want an unfair conclusion of our North Sea sector which is developing the very means to hit net zero.”

He added: “The SNP have lost the plot if they think it’s right that the Greens will have a seat at the government table while businesses, drivers, the oil and gas industry and normal hardworking people are shunted to the side.

“This deal is just another way for the SNP to push for another divisive referendum. The Scottish Conservatives will stand up for workers and families against this nationalist coalition of chaos.”

Labour leader Anas Sarwar has challenged the Greens to stand against further cuts to council budgets.

“The grim reality is that this coalition isn’t a surprise, it is just formalising what we’ve seen for years – Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP hammering our public services with cuts, and the Greens nodding along,” he said.

“From voting against pay rises for care workers, failing to reform the council tax, and tripling cuts to Scottish councils, this confirms the long-held suspicion that the Scottish Greens are just a branch office of the SNP.

“If the Greens are to be anything more than simply the SNP’s lackeys, they need to re-discover their principles and fight for a greener Scotland rather than roll over to the SNP every time the going gets tough.

“Scotland needs a real alternative that is standing up for our national recovery, the NHS and decent jobs – not the same old constitutional arguments.

“Scottish Labour are building that alternative, and I’d invite everyone in Scotland to join us on that journey”.

The email sent to Green members said the final agreement was being mulled by civil servants and lawyers because a “New Zealand-style” deal – which would see a Green MSP as a minister in government – has never been in place before in Scotland.

A spokesman for the First Minister said: “Following the SNP’s record landslide election win in May, the First Minister extended an open invitation to all parties to discuss areas where they thought they could work closely with the SNP in Government for the common good – in the face of the extraordinary challenges facing us such as the climate emergency and recovering from the pandemic.

“The fact that Labour and the Tories chose not to pursue that offer says far more about them than anyone else.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Greens said: “It’s no surprise that parties only interested in scoring political points would be alarmed about any suggestion of cooperation in the interests of people and planet.

“People vote Green to get results, and over the last five years the Scottish Greens have achieved more from our manifesto than Labour and the Tories combined. We will continue to do that, whatever happens.”

ScotRail has indicated that it will cut hundreds of train services, as it ruled out a return to its pre-pandemic timetable.

The rail operator said that it is instead proposing a new timetable, with around 2100 services per weekday.

It is a decrease on the 2400 train services operated each day by ScotRail before coronavirus struck.

During the pandemic, services were significantly reduced as fewer people used public transport amid lockdown restrictions.

ScotRail has pledged that the new timetable, scheduled to begin in May 2022, would be “better performing”.

The proposed changes will be subject to a consultation, with the views of passengers being welcomed.

In a statement, ScotRail said: “There has been a gradual increase in the number of customers returning to the railway due to the easing, and now the ending, of the majority of coronavirus restrictions.

“Passenger journeys have risen to around 50 per cent of their pre-Covid levels, however, evidence shows that, in future, customers will be using the railway in different ways by travelling at different times and for different purposes.”

The operator continued: “Returning to a pre-pandemic timetable would result in trains operating 26 million more vehicle miles each year for little customer benefit.

“As well as increased emissions, that would increase ScotRail costs to the taxpayer by £30m to £40m each year.

“The proposed new timetable will also focus on improved punctuality and reliability of services, building on the record punctuality delivered during the pandemic.”

Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway, said ScotRail’s services will reflect the varied travel patterns of people across Scotland following the pandemic.

“Scotland’s Railway is committed to delivering a service that is safe, reliable, green, and clean,” he said.

“Our job is to keep people moving and connected to business, leisure, and education while meeting the expectations of our customers

“The pandemic has changed how people travel across all of Scotland so our services will reflect these varied travel patterns and deliver timetables that are reliable, have enough capacity to meet pre-COVID levels of demand, and are sustainable.

“We are consulting on the timetable changes being proposed and we would welcome the views of our customers.”

Transport minister Graeme Dey said that the public consultation offers a “real opportunity” for people to help shape a “reliable and responsive” timetable change.

“Organisations up and down the country are reflecting on how they can provide great customer service while at the same time ensuring their businesses are fit for the future,” he said.

“Rail is no different and that is why it is essential ScotRail review changes in travel patterns across Scotland so that timetables best meet demand.

“This consultation exercise offers a real opportunity for customers and businesses to help shape a reliable and responsive timetable change from May 2022.

“I would encourage anyone with an interest to share their views”

Scottish Labour’s transport spokesperson Neil Bibby hit out at the proposals.

He said: “These plans would decimate Scotland’s rail networks and completely undermine our journey to net-zero.”

Bibby added: “We should be making it as easy as possible for people to get back on to public transport – but cutting hundreds of services a day will just leave us with infrequent, overcrowded trains.”

The medicines regulator has approved use of the first treatment in the UK using man-made antibodies to prevent and fight coronavirus.

UK health secretary Sajid Javid said approval of the first drug designed specifically for Covid-19 in the country is “fantastic news” and he hopes it can be rolled out for patients on the NHS “as soon as possible”.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the clinical trial data they had assessed has shown Ronapreve may be used to prevent infection, treat symptoms of acute Covid-19 infection and can reduce the likelihood of being admitted to hospital due to the virus.

Trials took place before widespread vaccination and before the emergence of virus variants.

The drug, previously known as REGN-Cov2, was given to former US president Donald Trump when he was admitted to hospital with Covid-19 last year.

It is the first monoclonal antibody combination product approved for use in the prevention and treatment of acute infection from the virus for the UK.

Monoclonal antibodies are man-made proteins that act like natural human antibodies in the immune system.

The drug, developed by pharmaceutical firms Regeneron and Roche, is given either by injection or infusion and acts at the lining of the respiratory system where it binds tightly to the virus and prevents it from gaining access to the cells, the MHRA said.

Javid said: “The UK is considered a world leader in identifying and rolling out life-saving treatments for Covid-19, once they have been proven safe and effective in our government-backed clinical trials.

“This is fantastic news from the independent medicines regulator and means the UK has approved its first therapeutic designed specifically for Covid-19.

“This treatment will be a significant addition to our armoury to tackle Covid-19 – in addition to our world-renowned vaccination programme and life-saving therapeutics dexamethasone and tocilizumab.

“We are now working at pace with the NHS and expert clinicians to ensure this treatment can be rolled out to NHS patients as soon as possible.”

MHRA interim chief quality and access officer Dr Samantha Atkinson said: “We are pleased to announce the approval of another therapeutic treatment that can be used to help save lives and protect against Covid-19.

“Ronapreve is the first of its kind for the treatment of Covid-19 and, after a meticulous assessment of the data by our expert scientists and clinicians, we are satisfied that this treatment is safe and effective.

“With no compromises on quality, safety and efficacy, the public can trust that the MHRA have conducted a robust and thorough assessment of all the available data.”

The regulator said the Government and NHS will confirm how the treatment will be deployed to patients in due course.

Professor Martin Landray, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, said the approval is “an important step forward” and that it could play “an important role” in helping patients at higher risk from the virus.

He said: “The challenge going forward will be in determining which patients should be prioritised for this treatment. Covid is not a rare disease and many people get better of their own accord after a few days of a nasty flu-like illness.

“It would be hard to justify giving what are likely to be limited supplies of a relatively expensive treatment to huge numbers of people who are likely to get better on their own.

“On the other hand, it may play an important role in patients who are at higher risk of developing severe infection and who are more likely to end up in hospital.”

The mother of a profoundly disabled 13-year-old has said she “can’t make him bulletproof” but getting him vaccinated will let him “live and experience life”.

Donna Quinn’s son Logan has serious respiratory problems and a rare neurological condition. He is one of around 4,000 children in Scotland with neuro-disabilities and other conditions to be offered a Covid-19 vaccine under new guidance.

Earlier this month, the Scottish Government announced children aged 12-17 with certain conditions would be offered a Pfizer vaccine in line with recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Quinn told the PA news agency: “We’ve done as much as we can, I can’t make him bulletproof, but I can just do as much as I can to move forward and start living again.

“He’s about to be 14 next week and I’ve had to have faith in science and medical experts for him to be alive today.

“I’ve nearly lost Logan on so many occasions. It was for him to live and experience life and be with friends and family.”

Quinn, 48, from Kilsyth, said her son, who had his first dose last Wednesday, has a “very, very weak” chest and lungs and sleeps with a specialist breathing respirator machine at night.

Anne Kelly, the mother of 13-year-old Erin, who has epilepsy and cerebral palsy, added that she had been waiting for the clinical advice to recommend vulnerable children for inoculation.

She told PA: “It was so that we’re kind of protecting the kids at the school, she wants to be around her friends. It was always going to be done if there was the option of getting it done.

“The first lockdown was horrible, the wee soul’s life just got turned upside down… she needs that routine.”

Both children attend the specialist Craighalbert Centre in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, which provides expert integrated therapy and education for children with neurological conditions.

It stayed open three days per week during the lockdowns last year, with group leader Alison Phillips saying the vaccination development is “a welcome step”.

She added: “Everything we do is focused on promoting children’s wellbeing. We’ve had all staff double vaccinated, and we encouraged parents to do so as well.

“Parents and staff testing are also doing twice-weekly testing and we have a lot of safeguards in place.”

Quinn added that support services she had relied on had been stripped back during the pandemic and that she had had to limit the number of carers coming into the home as she and Logan were shielding.

She added: “It would be very difficult to go through another winter like last year, where we didn’t see family, friends, and he wasn’t at school.

“I’m a single parent too, I was really worried that if I got ill, then who would be there to look after him?

“My parents are in their 80s and a bit poorly at the moment so we need to be safe for them as well as want to be around them as much as we can.

“I can only do what we can to keep him away from coughs and colds but I also have to be realistic. I can’t protect him from everything.

“It just makes more sense for him to be around people and have fun.”

A fisherman has thanked two heroes who saved his life after he plunged unconscious into a canal following a seizure.

Charlie Milne, 40, was fishing on the Forth and Clyde Canal, Falkirk, on August 10 when he suffered a seizure and fell headfirst into the water.

But he was rescued by two bystanders – an elderly tourist and a younger local man – who Chris said saved his life and allowed him to see his four-year-old son again.

A man and his wife, thought to have been visiting the area from England, heard the splash – and the man rushed into the canal to drag Charlie’s unconscious body out.

But he could only keep Charlie’s head above water and shout for help, which was answered by a younger man from the area who was walking along the canal path.

The man, who does not want to be named, was able to haul Chris out, and put him in the recovery position while they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Fork lift driver Charlie was checked over and released from Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Falkirk the next day.

Charlie said he’s scared to go fishing on his own again until he gets to the bottom of what caused his seizure.

The father-of-three from Falkirk said: “I just fancied getting out of the house and getting some fresh air.

“The thing is I had just caught only my second fish in five years.

“I can remember getting the fish – a pike – out of the canal and then setting up another lure on my rod.

“That’s the last thing I remember.

“The next thing I know I was soaking wet and looking up at the paramedics.

“I just want to thank them.

“You know I can remember the paramedics, but I can’t remember the two guys who actually saved me from the canal.”

“I’m just a very lucky guy.

“If those guys hadn’t been there I wouldn’t be here, my son wouldn’t have a dad if it hadn’t been for those men.

“It’s opened my eyes a lot to second chances.

“I’m getting a CT scan at the hospital to see if they can find out what caused it.

“I had one in my house in Glasgow ten years ago, but my sister was there to help.

“It’s really scary to know you lost consciousness like that and it’s only thanks to the bravery of those two guys that you are still around to tell the tale.”

A new women’s health plan has been published by the Scottish Government – promising better treatments and faster diagnoses for various conditions.

But for 18-year-old Tara Bachoo, it has come too late; she faces a daily battle to convince others that her invisible and debilitating condition exists.

It has taken doctors six years to diagnose her with endometriosis – a common gynaecological condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow in other places.

Affecting around one in every ten women, the condition leaves Tara bedbound with crippling pain for weeks at a time.

“When I was 12, I had really heavy cycles, cramps, constant feelings of nausea,” Tara told STV News. “I thought I was being a drama queen, but very quickly it became clear to me there was a bigger issue.”

Tara said that when she first went to her GP, he took a generalised approach, leaving her without answers.

“No one ever said to me, ‘you could have polycystic ovaries, you could have endometriosis, or a heart-shaped womb’,” she said. “It was all very generalised and nothing specific about a gynaecological illness came up.”

After trying 15 different types of medication which Tara said only made her symptoms “ten times worse”, she was referred to a specialist and told she had chronic fatigue, a cyst on her kidney and endometriosis.

She will have surgery later this year and a Mirena coil fitted to ease the symptoms, but there is no cure.

“I could not tolerate the pain,” Tara said. “It felt like a baseball bat hitting me and it took a swing every minute.

“I couldn’t move, I was sick, I couldn’t sleep at night and felt nauseous, in pain. My social life was also affected.

“I can’t meet friends because I only have two weeks in a whole month where I feel normal. The short answer to that is I cannot do anything. I am bedbound, sometimes housebound, even walking to different rooms is a challenge.”

One of Tara’s most difficult challenges was convincing others of her symptoms, which led to disbelief in her own feelings.

“I was terrified, you’re having all this happen to you, you’re left in uncertainty,” she said. “No matter how much you try to explain, you’re gaslighted by everyone you speak to. All this medical gaslighting makes you wonder, are you just pretending?”

‘Meet the needs of all women’

Despite making up 51% of the population, many women such as Tara feel like a minority, with their health needs misdiagnosed and misunderstood.

Better treatments and faster diagnoses of endometriosis is just one of the many priorities in the Women’s Health Plan published on Friday by the Scottish Government.

Believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, it aims to integrate services and reduce inequalities. It will aim to establish a national women’s health champion and a women’s health lead in every NHS board.

Women’s health minister Maree Todd said: “Whilst we know that across Scotland there are examples of excellent and innovative services for women, there is a clear need for wider systemic change to ensure that all our health and social care services meet the needs of all women.

“Together, we are working to address the inequalities in all aspects of health that women are facing. The Women’s Health Plan focuses on specific priority areas where a need for improvement was identified.

“But the plan is one part of a much wider picture when it comes to women’s health and wellbeing.”

‘Plan is forward thinking’

Described as deep dive into women’s health, it’s been formulated through a lived-experienced survey and professional input from senior GPs such as Dr Sigi Joseph.

“It’s very forward thinking,” she told STV News. “We need to recognise that women have different health needs to their male counterparts, and at different stages of life, we have different health needs.

STV News

“If you have patient in their late 40s there for a smear, take the opportunity to talk about heart health, menopause, maybe osteoporosis and signpost information they can access.

“It’s about recognising other health matters for women when they’re in front of you. The plan focuses on ethnicity as well, and how can we reach women in all communities, making sure they’re getting access to healthcare they need.”

What else does the plan feature?

Improving access to sexual health and abortion services is a priority in the report too.

Last year, several women were harassed by pro-life campaigners outside the Chalmers Street abortion clinic in Edinburgh, leading to Lucy Grieve co-founding the Back Off Scotland campaign calling for 150m buffer zones around them.

“We need to enact buffer zones nationally, not applying a patchwork framework,” she said. “We need to lead on that.

“Tele-medical abortion needs to be extended beyond Covid-19 and be made permanent, it means women can access abortion from the comfort of their own home.

“There is perhaps a no more decisive issue than abortion, but it’s a medical treatment and contraception fails – it’s a legal right. If there’s opposition to that, it should happen in parliament, not outside an abortion clinic.”

STV News

Supporting women’s health later in life with better specialist menopause services is also a key focus of the new health plan.

Rachel Weiss came up with the idea of a Menopause Café back in 2017 – a safe and open place where women can connect and discuss symptoms and treatments.

“With every different stage in my life, I’ve heard stories of people who’ve gone before me, but this one… nothing,” Rachel told STV News.

“The most common comments people make after a café are ‘I know I’m not alone and now I know I’m not going mad’. It’s quite touching that so many people are experiencing menopause and thinking something was wrong with them. Their partners and colleagues are affected too.”

The cafés have been a huge success, with more than 6000 women attending more than 500 meetings since 2017.

“A fifth of women will sail through the menopause, but there are another 20% who will suffer horribly, whether it’s depression, anxiety, and those people are suffering,” Rachel said. “Women are driven to suicidal thoughts, they end their jobs. There is help but they’re just not getting it.”

Rachel’s cafes have started the conversation, but she says there’s still far more to be done to improve services and make conversations about menopause mainstream.

“We need more specialist GPs with knowledge access and treatments, we need more menopause-friendly work places and we need more education,” she said.

The cafés have provided a wealth of information and a lifeline for women who attend them.

STV News

But many feel there’s a lack of understanding or support from some medical professionals and the public, who are told to believe hot flushes are the only symptoms. 

While attending a menopause café, Jaqui Treays told STV News: “When we started talking about things, I was like ‘oh my goodness!’.

“For me, it was just someone taking a veil off and the conversations were no holds barred. It was amazing to just be free and to understand. Since then, having had my eyes open, I’ve been frustrated at so many things.

“How do you make a choice when you don’t know what choices are out there? It’s such a lonely journey, that’s what I love about the menopause café, you’re not on your own anymore.

“I’ve found out more about menopause there from other women than trawling the internet. “

A controversial parade has been allowed to take place in Dunkeld this Sunday.

District 65 Colonel Cleland Memorial Loyal Orange Lodge notified Perth and Kinross Council of its intention to hold the procession this weekend.

The local authority received seven objections to the parade.

The council’s licensing committee was asked to accept the notice or reject it and prohibit the procession when it met virtually on Wednesday, August 18.

Around 75-100 people are expected to head off from Birnam Games Highland Park at 1.15pm and parade their way to Dunkeld Cathedral for a church service.

The parade is to mark the Battle of Dunkeld.

Organiser David Walters told the committee it would be “very dignified” and had been going on for over a decade and people would be “most welcome at it”.

Legal representative Jim MacLean said: “The right of freedom of peaceful public assembly is included as a fundamental right within all the major international human rights instruments, including the European Convention on Human Rights.”

He added: “The right to assemble is particularly important for minority and marginalised groups whose voices may otherwise not be heard or expressed in the mass media, nor reflected in the views in the mainstream political parties.”

Convener councillor Chris Ahern stepped in as Mr MacLean proceeded to make comments in response to each of the objections.

Councillor Ahern said: “I’m not going to have you lambasting the people that have put in legitimate concerns that they have and to put your views against each one of those.”

Objectors Laclan McEwan from Dunkeld and Birnam Community Council and John Gilruth addressed the committee with their concerns.

Gilruth said the community had been through “a really rough time” but had come through it together across the political divide.

He said allowing this parade felt like the “absolute antithesis” of that.

McEwan raised concerns about the safety of the marchers crossing the bridge during the busy tourist season and of disruption to the community.

Four police officers will be in attendance.

The committee was told Police Scotland had no reports of any disturbances or offences at the previous parade and of just one peaceful protest.

The committee unanimously decided to accept the notice of the procession but subject to conditions – including times being adhered to and an instruction to abide by the code of conduct.

Councillor Ahern said: “It must be noted that because the committee has allowed the march to take place it does not mean this committee has any thoughts about the causes the Orange Order supports.

“It is the right of any group to have a freedom of speech and a freedom of expression including the right to hold a peaceful march.”

Story by local democracy reporter Kathryn Anderson

Dominic Raab faces mounting pressure to resign after it emerged a phone call requested by his officials to help interpreters flee Afghanistan was not made.

The foreign secretary was reportedly “unavailable” when officials in his department suggested he “urgently” call Afghan foreign minister Hanif Atmar on August 13 – two days before the Taliban marched on Kabul – to arrange help for those who supported British troops.

It was initially reported the Afghan Foreign Ministry refused to arrange a call with a junior minister, pushing it back to the next day.

But a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson later said: “Given the rapidly changing situation, it was not possible to arrange a call before the Afghan government collapsed.”

Raab was holidaying on the Greek island of Crete and said to be staying at the five-star “luxury” Amirandes Hotel when the request for the call was made.

The Times also reported that Sir Philip Barton, Matthew Rycroft and David Williams, the respective permanent secretaries of the Foreign Office, Home Office and Ministry of Defence, were on holiday amid the evacuations from Afghanistan.

It is understood the senior officials continued to work on Afghanistan while on leave, with the Whitehall departments running systems where there is another minister or an acting permanent secretary to cover periods of leave.

But Labour has demanded details about the Government’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan and the Foreign Secretary’s holiday while Kabul fell to the Taliban.

It has set out a list of 18 urgent questions for the Foreign Secretary to answer about his trip and his department’s handling of the crisis.

Asked about Raab’s actions, defence minister James Heappey said people at all levels in the UK Government are “working their backsides off” to evacuate people.

He told Sky News: “I don’t know the exact details of the Foreign Office ministers’ call sheets.

“What I can tell you, as the Secretary of State (Ben Wallace) said yesterday, is I know that no one phone call would have been decisive in changing the trajectory – either for the collapse of the Afghan government or indeed the acceleration of the airlift.”

Heappey added he could only comment on what he sees in his meetings and via his phone calls.

He said: “What I see is that from the Prime Minister to secretaries of state to my junior ministerial colleagues around government to senior civil servants, all the way down to the brave volunteer civil servants who have gone forward to Kabul … is people across Her Majesty’s Government working their backsides off in order to get people out.”

On reports contract staff who protected the British embassy were receiving no protection themselves, Mr Heappey said: “If you’re referring to the GardaWorld staff who protect the embassy, I can tell you they have arrived at the airport this morning and we’ll be moving them out later today.”

Heappey also confirmed 963 people have been evacuated from Kabul on the RAF “air bridge” in the last 24 hours.

For Labour, shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: “For the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to be on holiday during the biggest foreign policy crisis in a generation is an unforgivable failure of leadership.”

Labour, the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru have all called for Mr Raab to either quit or be sacked by the Prime Minister.

Elsewhere, senior MPs have warned the Government must ensure it meets its responsibility towards UK-linked workers “pursued into hiding” by Taliban forces.

Labour’s Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, and Conservative Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Defence Select Committee, warned the scope of the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) was “too narrow”.

In a letter to the Home Secretary, they urged Priti Patel to provide more resources to support the issuing of visas to ensure those trying to leave Afghanistan do not face administrative delays which would be “unforgivable at this dangerous time”.