Foreign Secretary James Cleverly dodges apology to Brits who feel 'abandoned' in Sudan

27 April 2023, 13:43 | Updated: 27 April 2023, 13:55

By Abbie Reynolds

When quizzed by Nick Ferrari, James Cleverly claimed the Foreign Office had "made every effort" to communicate with Brits stuck in Sudan.

Nick Ferrari questioned the MP: "Foreign Secretary, do you feel the need to apologise to anyone who's been caught up in this way, or indeed felt abandoned by the government during the crisis?

"Because they are saying there's not been the same level of contact from the [British] Embassy, in Sudan as there have been from other countries."

Mr Cleverly responded: "We have been attempting to communicate through multiple channels, multiple times a day."

The Foreign Secretary placed the blame on a "patchy" and "inconsistent" communication network in Khartoum. "People who have been able to contact us at certain points of the day have lost contact with us at other points of the day", he insisted.

Nick pressed: "But for those who feel left behind, again I'll ask you for a second time if I may Foreign Secretary, do you think you want to apologise?"

"Well we've made every effort to maintain contact with them but, as I say, we cannot control the communication network in Khartoum."

"So there's not an apology," Nick said, acknowledging his answer.

"All we can control is our actions, and we have been constantly attempting to update people throughout this," Mr Cleverly maintained.