Don’t panic, don’t panic! Listen to the foreign secretary on the morning media round and you’d imagine that the evacuation of British nationals from Sudan was the most successful military operation of its kind since Dunkirk. Just without the small boats. Thousands of men, women and children rescued from under the noses of warring militias. All thanks to the bravery and leadership of one man. Take a bow, James “Ice Cool in Alex” Cleverly. “Oh no, no, no,” he didn’t demur, modestly. “I was just doing my job. I’m here to serve.”
Only, the pictures and reports coming out of Khartoum tell a rather different story. One of chaos. No one knowing exactly what is going on. Just over 500 people evacuated out of a possible 4,000 or so. Ill and disabled parents of British nationals having visa applications refused and being left behind. And only a few hours till the fragile ceasefire ends.
