This is the real reason Boris Johnson is furious with Dominic Raab

Raab will face some searching questions about his and his department’s handling of the crisis by the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee next Wednesday – the ‘reckoning’ is coming, writes Andrew Grice

‘Raab has been widely criticised for his response’ (EPA)

What is the real reason why Boris Johnson is furious with Dominic Raab? Despite all the headlines, it’s not that the foreign secretary was sunning himself at a luxury resort in Crete while Kabul fell into the Taliban’s hands. Or that he did not return immediately when Downing Street officials ordered him back.

Although the opposition parties exploited Raab’s embarrassment, his holiday was a distraction from the real story.

Whitehall insiders tell me Johnson and other ministers are angry because they believe Raab ignored the conclusion of the first Cobra emergency committee meeting on Afghanistan on 13 August by telling his diplomats to return to the UK immediately, rather than stay in Kabul to process the cases of British and Afghan citizens trying to leave.