A Norfolk MP has branded the UK's response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan as "woeful".

Norwich South Labour MP Clive Lewis asked foreign office minister Vicky Ford to make a statement in the Commons on Wednesday (January 12).

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August and the economy is in freefall, according to the United Nations.

Ms Ford told MPs the country is facing a "serious and worsening humanitarian crisis".

She said: "The UN has this week requested nearly 4.5 billion dollars for 2022, the largest humanitarian appeal on record reflecting the magnitude of the humanitarian challenge ahead.”

But Mr Lewis said the UK’s response was “woeful”, asking how the government would “square the circle of dealing with the Taliban and playing its part in supporting Afghanistan and humanitarian aid”.

Mr Lewis, who served with the army in Afghanistan in 2009, added: “The UN cannot deliver at the scale and speed needed by working alone. So will global Britain now show global leadership?”

Ms Ford replied: “The prime minister, foreign secretary and other ministers, including the minister for the region, are working really closely with world leaders including the US, the EU and the UN.”