As a matter of national honour, the British government must stop dragging its feet in protecting those who served alongside our troops in Afghanistan. As we report today, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted in an internal review that Afghans who worked with British forces are still likely to be at risk from Taliban retribution.

Despite this admission, in June last year the government stopped evacuating families who had already been approved for sanctuary in Britain. Luke Pollard, the defence minister, announced in April this year that Afghan families eligible for relocation would have to flee the Taliban-run country on their own.

He told the Commons in a written statement that the thousands of Afghans still waiting would “need to make their own way to a third country when they are able to do so”.

The Independent can now reveal that a review carried out by the MoD in February concluded that “the risk to individuals who may be eligible … remains real, albeit diminished”.

The review tried to minimise the dangers to Afghans who served with or worked for British forces during the 20 years that Western troops occupied the country before the Taliban regained control in 2021. It described the threat as “selective and localised” and that recent attacks, including killings, of Afghans “may well be the result of recent transgressions, rather than their previous affiliation” to the UK government.

These excuses are beside the point. The British government made a solemn promise to those Afghans who worked with the British that they would be protected. Many thousands of them have been given sanctuary in Britain, but there remain about 7,000 who the MoD accepts are in danger and are therefore eligible for resettlement, but who are still in Afghanistan or neighbouring countries, mainly Pakistan and Iran.

This number is higher than it would have been because of the catastrophic data breach in 2022, when the MoD accidentally sent out a list of Afghans who had worked with the British by insecure email. This was an error for which the British government has to take responsibility, and yet too much of the response to it involved obfuscation and delay.

We are concerned that this approach, to make it difficult and slow to make it to safety, is typical of the British state’s attitude to its obligations to Afghans generally. We are proud to have played a role in the Home Office’s decision in 2023 to grant indefinite leave to remain for the Afghan pilot who was threatened with deportation to Rwanda.

But throughout The Independent’s long campaign to hold the government to account for its promises, we have suspected that the unspoken view among ministers and officials is that obstruction and delay are an effective way of discouraging applicants.

This is unacceptable. We understand that immigration is a sensitive political subject, and we share the public’s dismay at the previous government losing control of the system, allowing too many work visas and dependants. But the Afghan situation is specific, limited and a question of principle. Public opinion supports the government in delivering its obligations to those who served alongside our troops or who put themselves at risk by working to assist them as translators, guides or administrators.

It is now time, five years after the fall of Kabul, for the government to end the delays, the excuses and the attempts to minimise the dangers. Of course, applicants must be checked, and undesirables must not be allowed to take advantage of British generosity, but we are now talking about thousands of people who have been accepted for protection but are unable to make it to safety.

The UK must at long last finally discharge its obligations to our Afghan allies, promptly and in full.

Anyone caught up in the disruption should contact their airline, they added.

No further official information about the nature of the defect has been released.

A number of people spoke to the BBC on Friday evening about their experience at the airport – among them Paul Smith, who was due to fly to Glasgow for his son’s 20th birthday but had to cancel his trip.

“The communication, advice and support for passengers has been really poor,” he said.

There were no announcements on the tannoy system for over an hour, he said, which meant EasyJet reps in the departure lounge were the only source of information.

“What we’ve heard is that there’s a hole in the runway.”

Dave Blackwell, travelling home from Rhodes in Greece, said it had been “a shambles” since his flight back to Bristol was diverted to Newcastle.

“We were in Rhodes Airport for three hours with no information. Now we have all been told our flight is going to Newcastle and then a five or six hour bus ride – why Newcastle? How appalling,” he said.

Are you waiting for a flight to or from Bristol Airport? Please use the form below to get in touch and tell us your experience.

A flight attendant has shared a simple yet effective airplane armrest hack to help passengers feel more comfortable on long-haul flights – and it involves a little-known hidden seat button

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Flying can prove to be quite a stressful experience, especially if you’re not among the privileged few who can afford to fork out for business class tickets. No one wants to be stuck in the same seat for what can seem like endless journeys, boredom and discomfort often take over – particularly when you’re squeezed in on a row with total strangers.

While the cheaper economy class seats are known to be cramped, and on protracted flights, this frequently leads to significant discomfort and potentially severe health complications. Sitting down on a plane seat for longer periods of time has been proven to sometimes cause muscle cramps, bloating, and, in extreme circumstances, deep vein thrombosis or blood clots.

This is exactly why, if you’re planning to undertake a long-distance flight in the coming weeks or months, prioritising your comfort and physical wellbeing is absolutely essential.

While certain tactics can improve your comfort – including wearing baggy clothing, investing in noise-cancelling headphones, and packing a neck pillow – these remedies don’t always prove effective.

To help passengers in getting more comfortable in their seat, a flight attendant named Charlie Silver, from Manchester, has revealed her ultimate comfort hack for your upcoming flight, particularly when you’re wanting a bit more space in your seat.

How to get more space in a plane seat

In her video demonstration, Charlie is positioned in an aisle seat on board a plane, showing how the exterior armrest functions distinctly from the remaining armrests in that row – crucially, it doesn’t fold upwards.

“Are you sitting on the aisle seat, wondering why your armrest doesn’t go up?” she asked in her video. “Well, here you go. Here’s a little hack for you.”

She went on to share how to find a concealed button on the armrest, enabling her to move it as she pleased and thereby giving her more room in her seat.

“Press this little hidden button and voila. Your armrest will move freely up and down,” she said, pointing out the small lever-style button that was within easy reach while sitting down.

Using it means travellers can raise the armrest, creating more room in their seat for enhanced comfort. While it might just give you a couple of extra inches in the seat, this can mean a lot if you’re stuck in your seat for hours at a time.

Numerous viewers were quick to praise Charlie for her simple yet handy suggestion, though some noted it hadn’t worked on their flights.

“The flight attendants always make me put it down,” one person observed. Someone else explained: “You have to put it down for take off and landing, but you should be able to have it up during cruise.”

Another viewer wrote: “This hack is great for when you’re going into the row or getting out.”

“Nah! Needed to see this at the beginning of the year! Why’s it so hidden,” wrote another, clearly frustrated they hadn’t discovered it earlier.

However, not everyone was impressed by the revelation, with several expressing astonishment that it wasn’t widely known: “I thought everyone knew that.”

Great Lever’s Neighbourhood Policing Team led the operation, focusing on removing illegal drugs from the streets and ensuring businesses comply with the law.

At the weekend (Sunday, August 2), officers on patrol found an abandoned vehicle, with checks later confirming that it had no current keeper and no insurance.

Inside the vehicle, officers discovered 49 boxes of nitrous oxide, a Class C drug.

Sergeant Daniel Richards from GMP’s Bolton neighbourhood team said: “The last few days have seen several successes for our team – taking illicit and dangerous drugs off the streets, and working with partners to secure the closure of shops suspected of criminality.

“While we will always work to tackle these sort of issues, our work can take many forms – from proactive patrols to local engagement and preventative work with the local council and other teams to address issues affecting residents in our area.

“I would urge anyone with anyone with issues to please get in touch with us, as it all informs our work and we will do what we can to help you.”

The nitrous oxide was seized this week. (Image: GMP)

Nitrous oxide can cause serious health risks and has been linked to fatal and life-changing road collisions in Greater Manchester.

The canisters were seized, and officers have gathered further intelligence as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the drug’s use.

On Monday, the team executed a warrant at a property on Grosvenor Street following reports of illegal substances.

A small amount of recreational steroids was found and seized.

A man was given an out-of-court disposal and a warning.

In addition to drug enforcement, officers secured three-month closure orders for two shops on Derby Street in Great Lever.

Great Lever’s Neighbourhood Policing Team lead the operation. (Image: GMP)

These closures followed reports of anti-social behaviour linked to the businesses.

The neighbourhood team said it remains committed to addressing both criminal activity and the wider community concerns that contribute to anti-social behaviour.

Their work includes direct enforcement, engagement with residents, and joint initiatives with the local council.

Officers continue to encourage residents to report any concerns or suspicious activity to help inform future operations and keep the community safe.

While the old adage of ‘no smoke without fire’ may be true, the reverse is not. From Suffolk to the Peak District to the Cairngorms, pockets of fires are still furtively flickering away, smokeless, unseen and underfoot, in roots, animal burrows or a seam of peat. Sharp-eyed fire crews remain on standby, ready to pounce on the next flame to pop up from the underworld.

The worst may be over – for now, although a new heatwave is on the way – after the spate of wildfires breaking out across Britain in recent days. But the damage – not just to the landscape but the wider tourist industry – reflects a disturbing reality: These things now spread further, faster and deeper than they used to.

And it’s certainly not just down to climate change.

The rise of the fashionable new doctrine that nature is ‘best left to itself’ is leaving mountains of flame-ready brushwood waiting for a spark.

And where, in the past, a live-in gamekeeper might have been on the spot in a trice to swat a wildfire before it got going, much of the countryside is now administered by a nine-to-five lanyard class who are expressly forbidden from tackling anything riskier than a bin fire in the office waste paper basket.

In Suffolk, much of Dunwich Heath and Minsmere, a great sprawl of ancient wood, heather and grassland, resembles a First World War-style wastescape of ash and the odd gnarled tree.

Two nature reserves – one run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the other by the National Trust – have been wiped out.

The disaster zone equates to 210 football pitches, so we are told by the local authorities who think that the public find a sporting analogy easier to digest than ‘371 acres’. Or, to put it another way, that equates to seeing London’s Hyde Park or three-quarters of Monaco go up in smoke.

A firefighting helicopter scoops up seawater in attempt to control the Dunwich Heath wildfire

The destruction further north has been much worse. The losses at Tintwistle Moor and Dove Stone in the Peak District have been officially rated as 1,250 football pitches, while the destruction in the Cairngorms stands at 3,500 pitches (ten square miles in old money). In each area, the fire crews have performed heroically, assisted by quick-thinking local farmers, gamekeepers and volunteers.

In Suffolk, for example, families had to be plucked from caravans in the dead of night as the flames were heading to a holiday park and, for a while, towards nearby homes.

Ultimately, not a single shed or mobile home, let alone a human life or residence, was lost. The sense of relief round here is palpable.

But now that these wildfires have been largely stamped out, a similarly incendiary debate has already started over the best way to minimise the damage in future.

In very broad terms, it boils down to those, on one side, who think our countryside should be proactively managed the way it has been for generations by people living and working on the land.

Then there are those, on the other, who want it to revert to a more ‘natural’, less human-centric state, a doctrine usually described as ‘rewilding’.

It is a quarrel variously painted as tweedy traditionalists versus dreamy idealists; horny-handed countryfolk versus eco-zealots. Scratch a little deeper and you are soon into culture war/class war/political territory, too.

All can happily agree on a few things. First, idiots will always be with us, dropping fag ends and glass or lighting camp fires in hot weather.

Second, climate change, scorching temperatures and dry, tinderbox summers are now set to be the norm. Views then differ radically on what can be done to make the countryside less flammable.

It is clear that the more we leave woods, grass, heather and gorse untouched by human hand, the more an area accumulates what the authorities call ‘fuel load’ – and what the rest of us call ‘kindling’.

Yet the rewilding lobby argues passionately that rewilding leads to ‘rewetting’ – the benefits of dam-building beavers are often cited – and, thus, a wetter countryside is less likely to burn.

‘This cult has grown up saying, “Man bad, nature good”; that any human intervention is a bad thing,’ says Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance. ‘At a time when the environmental movement could not be more right about the challenges of climate change and dry summers, it is exactly the time when more management is needed.

‘But the environmental movement and government agencies like Natural England have increasingly moved towards this sort of hands-off, happy-clappy, rewilding idea that if we just let nature go, it’ll all be fine.’

Almost every wildfire turns out to be the fault of a human (though the odd lightning strike can be to blame). Last month’s blaze above Dove Stone reservoir in the Peaks followed the drowning of a teenager whose friends had returned to honour him with fireworks. One of those set off the heather on the moor above.

However, it has not gone unnoticed that some of the worst wildfires have occurred in places with higher fuel loads – i.e. those where the orthodoxy of rewilding is embraced.

Every wildfire is different but the hottest topic in the rewilding debate concerns the management of our moorland. For this fight spills over into class, politics and animal rights.

An estimated one million acres of British moorland is dedicated to grouse shooting. Most of that land sits inside our national parks, says the pressure group Rewilding Britain, a staunch foe of ‘intensively-managed grouse moors which leave nature impoverished and contribute to climate breakdown’.

They argue that the traditional maintenance of grouse moors, which involves burning patches of heather in rotation during winter to promote heather regeneration, causes lasting damage to the peat beneath it.

Much better, say the rewilders, to leave nature well alone, let the peat soak up more moisture and, over time, see the heather give way to moss. They also want to block up moorland drains or ‘grips’ (historically created to promote sheep farming) that take water off the hills.

Though moorland is not prime beaver territory, the aim is rewetting as well as rewilding. Underpinning this, though, in many cases, is a simple dislike of wealthy people shooting small birds. With the grouse-shooting season almost upon us – Wednesday is the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ – the issue is a live one right now.

The shooters, estate owners and gamekeepers, however, point out that a grouse moor is not only much more eco-friendly than a hands-off hillside but it is far less likely to suffer a wildfire precisely because it is actively managed. By burning selected or ‘prescribed’ areas each winter, the moor becomes a ‘mosaic’ of heathers of different ages, each of which will promote different species of wildlife at different stages in the plant’s growth.

Overall, the whole patchwork is less susceptible to a fast-moving blaze because the newly-burned parts of the ‘mosaic’ serve as fire breaks. Furthermore, say the grouse lobby, winter burning or ‘muirburn’ does no damage to the peat.

With 30 years of gamekeeping behind him, moorlands expert Richard Bailey points to an online video showing a keeper placing a Mars bar underneath a patch of moorland heather.

Smoke rises in the distance over Dunwich Heath

Evacuated residents gather at Westleton Village Hall

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This then gets a full winter torching. The top of the heather is frazzled but the Mars bar underneath is unscathed in its wrapper, thus proving that the peat below is unharmed. A wildfire, on the other hand, burns down to the roots and would have incinerated both the Mars bar and the peat, too.

Peak District-based Mr Bailey, who was invited to address a parliamentary committee on the subject, has spent recent weeks helping out round the clock to put out the blazes in his area.

It is no coincidence, he points out, that these have occurred on non-grouse-shooting land run by the RSPB. He does not deny that wildfires can sometimes start on a grouse moor – and it does happen – but he argues that it is much less likely to take off at speed because the ‘fuel load’ is greatly depleted.

As for the rewilders’ plans to rewet peat bogs, typically over a 50-year period, he says that it is a nice idea but self-defeating if wildfires are going to incinerate the land in the meantime.

Mr Bonner points out that where locals burn heather in non‑grouse-shooting areas – such as Dartmoor – there is no vocal opposition because the beneficiaries there are animals, not gun-toting toffs in plus fours.

Mr Bailey says that Greater Manchester fire brigade regularly seeks training and advice on moorland fires from estate gamekeepers because they have been managing moors for generations. He also notes that the brigade were very grateful for the help of 20 gamekeepers who worked round the clock on the Tintwistle fire for ten days – equating to 2,289 man-hours at no public cost.

He states that charity staff and civil servants, through no fault of their own, are told not to tackle any fire greater than one square metre and must dial 999 instead. ‘By the time the crews get there, the fire is going to be well under way,’ he says.

Down in Suffolk, I check out the impact on the local economy. It’s lunchtime in the enchanting village of Dunwich in what should be one of the busiest weeks of the year – and the place is ghostly.

The authorities have been telling everyone to ‘avoid the area’, even though Dunwich is perfectly safe – and well worth a visit. So, too, is neighbouring Westleton which responded magnificently when the fire broke out. Barbara Buckley, chair of Westleton village hall, and her neighbours were up all night finding accommodation for the refugees from the holiday park near the burning heath.

People here want to get on with their lives, not debate the merits of rewilding. However, one local farmer points out that the RSPB’s Minsmere reserve hardly needs rewetting since much of it is marshland, while its fire breaks were ‘woeful’.

The village hall remains the local information hub. One of those dropping in is the gardener for film star Ralph Fiennes who has a house inside the sealed-off security zone. Like all the others, it is fine thanks to the swift response of the fire brigade.

I talk to the actor’s brother, Jake Fiennes, a prominent countryside expert who runs the award-winning operation at Holkham Hall, the Earl of Leicester’s 25,000-acre estate in neighbouring Norfolk.

He has friends on both sides of the rewilding debate but wants to see us move on from its divisive tone. ‘We are on a small island on the edge of the Atlantic that has been managed by Man for millennia.

‘I get frustrated by the ecological language which alienates those who have historically managed land through different processes. There has to be compromise, partnership and understanding. I prefer to talk about restorative agriculture.’

Having grown up near Dunwich, he is very familiar with the burned-out area. He reflects that some of the heathland there had been left untouched for too long and had become, as he puts it, ‘rank’.

The RSPB also questions the language of the debate.

‘Rewilding means different things to different people but restoring and protecting natural processes in the right places can have real conservation benefits,’ a spokesman tells me.

‘That said, the heathland at RSPB Minsmere and our other lowland heathland sites is the very antithesis of what many consider to be “rewilding”. These landscapes are actively, carefully and continuously managed.’

He adds that the RSPB does provide firebreaks: ‘We take the risk of wildfire exceptionally seriously across all our reserves.’

The National Trust says it is equally committed to safety but that its eight-metre firebreaks at Dunwich were overwhelmed by 40-metre flames. It adds: ‘There is no rewilding policy at Dunwich Heath or anywhere at the National Trust. Our decisions are guided by science.’

It rejects the use of selected winter burning to reduce fuel load, saying there is ‘limited evidence’, adding: ‘We prioritise nature restoration over routine burning because healthier, wetter landscapes are more resilient to wildfire’.

Judging by recent events, those beavers have a great deal left to do.

Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene in Holgate Road at 7.45pm on Friday (August 7).

Everyone was out of the vehicles when the fire crews arrived, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

The fire service said “casualties were left in the care of ambulance crews”.

Firefighters made the scene safe by isolation the vehicles’ batteries.

The fire service said the incident was “left in the hands of police”.

Images of the scene showed the fronts of both cars, a navy Uber and a silver Vauxhall, badly damaged after the collision outside the Crystal Palace pub.

The stretch of Holgate Road outside the pub was cordoned off after the crash.

McDonald’s set its sights on a Cambridge location, just minutes away from another operating store

McDonald’s has been given the green light to open a new restaurant in Cambridge despite another being just minutes away in the car. Cambridge City Council has granted McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd permission to open the new restaurant at Cambridge Retail Park.

The site, which has been vacant since March 2023, contains a former Frankie and Benny’s restaurant. It has more recently been used as a Turkish Restaurant. The approved plans include the change of use of the site to transform it into a mixed restaurant and takeaway use.

A planning statement says: “The customer seating area comprises a sizeable 112 covers for visitors to eat their meals within a relaxed modern environment. The dining area will include a variety of seating types and table sizes tailored to the customers’ needs.”

According to the proposals, the restaurant is expected to employ more than 120 full and part time staff, which McDonald’s seeks to recruit from the local area.

Located less than one-mile away from the new site, around a five-minute drive, is another McDonald’s location on Newmarket Road. There is also another operating restaurant on Rose Crescent in the city centre.

At the new location, the back of the restaurant would be extended into the existing storage area and alterations to the elevations include a new sliding entrance door and side door. The existing patio area is to be retained and enhanced, with a new children’s playframe and new patio seating included in the plans.

According to the applicant, McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd, the latest figures available show that the fast-food chain contributed £3.18 million to the economy in Cambridge.

Passengers are facing travel chaos at Bristol airport after a runway defect suspended operations for hours leading to cancellations and delays.

Passengers were left stranded on Friday after the airport’s runway was closed at around 6pm. It remained shut, with no flights coming in or out, until 8am on Saturday, but operations have now resumed.

Though the runway has reopened, passengers are now facing hours of delays, with multiple flights affected.

An updated statement on the airport’s website said: “Flights have resumed at Bristol Airport this morning. There will be some disruption to some flights today and customers are advised to refer to their airlines with any flight queries. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Earlier, the airport said that it had suspended operations to assess and repair a “defect on the runway.”

If you have been affected by the runway closure at Bristol airport, please get in touch by emailing daniel.haygarth@independent.co.uk

Among the many flights to be delayed this morning, according to the airport’s online departures board, are the 5.55am service to Faro, which is scheduled to take off at 10.40am, and the 6.20am flight to Menorca, which is expected to depart at 11.30am.

Cancelled or delayed flights: What are my rights to a refund? Check here

Paul Smith, who was due to fly to Glasgow on Friday for his son’s 20th birthday but had to cancel the holiday, told the BBC: “The communication, advice and support for passengers has been really poor”.

Mr Smith said there were no announcements for more than an hour on Friday and claimed that he was only getting information from EasyJet staff in the departure lounge.

On X, responding to a passenger asking if flights have been cancelled today, airline Jet2 said: “Our flights have not been cancelled. They are currently delayed, and are expected to fly later today when the runway re-opens.”