Security chief denies consulting No 10 over Afghanistan charity evacuation

Sir Stephen Lovegrove said he would have remembered if he had checked with either the prime minister or the defence secretary. Photograph: Virginia Mayo/AP

The UK national security adviser, Sir Stephen Lovegrove, has said he did not consult Downing Street before telling the Foreign Office it should allow staff from an animal charity to be listed for evacuation from Afghanistan, but said he has “a far from perfect memory” of precisely what happened.

The foreign affairs select committee is investigating leaked emails from Foreign Office staff that say Lovegrove directed that the Nowzad staff be evacuated after consulting No 10 last August.