Two women are dead. The Taliban's crackdown on female protestors has escalated to bullets. In Kabul, a demonstration for education rights turned bloody. Witnesses say security forces opened fire. The death toll: two. The message: clear.
Westminster is not silent. Labour's shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, led the charge. 'This is a massacre of peaceful protestors. We cannot look away.' His words were echoed across the aisle. Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs committee, called for 'immediate UN intervention.' The motion passed without a vote. Unanimous. Rare.
Downing Street has yet to comment. But the whispers from Whitehall are of a 'strongly worded statement' being drafted. They fear the optics. A Labour party already hammering them on the economy now has a moral stick. The Taliban's regime is not recognised by the UK. But what does that mean in practice? Not much. Not yet.
Inside the lobby, the talk is of a backbench rebellion. Hardline Tories want sanctions. Now. Lib Dems want a no-fly zone. Unlikely. But the mood is shifting. The women of Afghanistan are a totemic issue. They unite a divided parliament. For now.
The UN is already under pressure. Briefings from New York suggest a special session is being considered. But the Security Council is fractured. Russia and China will block anything substantive. That is the game.
So what happens next? The protest will continue. The Taliban will hold the line. Westminster will thump its chest. And two women will remain dead. That is the brutal arithmetic of power.
Eleanor Rigby, Political Bureau Chief.
