BORIS JOHNSON gave the order to evacuate cats and dogs from Afghanistan during the Kabul airlift, a second whistleblower claimed today.

Josie Stewart, head of illicit finance at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), said that it was “widespread knowledge” among the team handling the crisis response that the decision to evacuate animals and staff from the Nowzad charity in August came from the PM. 

Mr Johnson has repeatedly denied that he was directly involved in the decision, saying the claims were “complete nonsense.” 

Ms Stewart’s remarks, made in evidence to the Commons foreign affairs select committee, backs up those made by FCDO staff member Raphael Marshall last year.

Mr Marshall claimed that emails from desperate Afghans went unread and that the PM pushed for animals to be rescued at the “direct expense of humans.” 

The pair’s claims cast further doubt on Mr Johnson’s repeated denials that he was not directly involved in the decision. 

Ms Stewart told the committee: “I saw messages to this effect on Microsoft Teams. I heard it discussed in the crisis centre, including by senior civil servants, and I was copied on numerous emails which clearly suggested this.”

Ms Stewart, who has worked at the FCDO since 2015, said that she was likely to lose the job “she loves” as a result of speaking out.

“I cannot, however, accept the lack of accountability that I have seen for failures in the civil service system,” she said. 

“I feel a strong sense of moral injury for having been part of something so badly managed, so focused on managing reputational risk and political fallout rather than the actual crisis and associated human tragedy.”

Responding to her evidence, Labour shadow foreign secretary David Lammy branded the PM a “serial liar.” 

Ms Stewart’s damning evidence also accuses civil servants of issuing “misleading statements and stifling of information” about the PM’s role in the Nowzad decision. 

“It is possible, although it would be surprising, that neither [Foreign Office permanent undersecretary] Philip Barton nor Nigel Casey remembered seeing the emails about supposed PM involvement on the day they were sent,” she said.

“I cannot see how it is possible that they would not have found the extensive evidence of this when asked about it later.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said: “The PM has made clear he had no role in authorising individual evacuations from Afghanistan during Op Pitting, including Nowzad staff and animals.”