Fears grow that Home Office has lost will to resettle Afghans under threat

Thousands are still at the Taliban's mercy in Afghanistan, and expert warns that politically expedient' initiative may now wither

Priti Patel's much-trumpeted scheme to allow Afghans to resettle in Britain has been starved of appropriate resources", according to officials, as a former senior diplomat voices fears that the UK government appears intent to let the initiative wither away before it has even started.

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) was announced to great fanfare in August as the Taliban took Kabul, but four months on it has still not started. A senior Whitehall source with intimate knowledge of the scheme said it had been delayed because it had not received adequate support for it to launch.