Dominic Raab has insisted he couldn’t have been paddleboarding as Kabul fell to the Taliban because the ‘sea was closed’ that day.

The Foreign Secretary has been forced to defend himself after facing calls to quit because he remained on holiday two days after chaos erupted in Afghanistan.

Critics say the delay has hampered efforts to evacuate Brits from the besieged country, with time now running out to ensure everyone is safe.

Appearing on the morning media-round, Mr Raab defended his actions and insisted the portrayal of him sunning himself at a five star resort in Crete during the crisis was wide of the mark.

He told Sky News: ‘The stuff about me being lounging around on the beach all day is just nonsense. The stuff about me paddleboarding, nonsense, the sea was actually closed, it was a red notice.

‘I was focused on the Cobra meetings, the Foreign Office team, the director and the director general, and the international engagement.’

Mr Raab was first summoned home from his Greek island break on Friday, August 13 but didn’t appear back in Whitehall until the Monday.

Reports said at the time he negotiated with PM Boris Johnson to stay on for an extra couple of days.

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During that time he refused to take a phone call from his counterpart in the Afghan Government about the evacuation of translators who had helped British troops – instead delegating it to a junior minister. Reports later revealed the call never actually took place.

Mr Raab said ‘with the benefit of hindsight’ he wouldn’t have gone away, but insisted the world was shocked by the speed at which the Taliban advanced.

He said he continued to take part in calls while on holiday and couldn’t have flown home sooner because this would have meant he would have been travelling at the time these meetings took place.

The minister’s luxury getaway has been widely mocked online, with a number of fake TripAdvisor reviews being posted on the Amirandes Hotel page.

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One troll, who gave their name as Dom R, gave the hotel a five star rating, adding: ‘I hadn’t quite understood the full extent of getting away from it all until now. Quite honestly, there could be a war going on outside, and you’d barely notice it. Bliss! P.S Terrible mobile signal on the beach but suited me just fine.’

The hotel’s general manager Vassilis Minadakis was very impressed with the review and replied to say: ‘We are very happy to read that you enjoyed your time with us in order for you to relax and escape from everyday life.

‘We hope to welcome you again soon in our resort and wish you a nice remaining summer.’

Another user, Lan, gave the hotel just three stars, adding: ‘Too busy working to relax’.

They said: ‘As a very important minister of a very important island nation off the coast of north Europe I obviously have to conceal my identity by writing under a pseudonym.

‘Far from being able to relax and enjoy the amenities of this excellent hotel I was stuck in my room on the phone 24/7 coordinating evacuation efforts required by a major unfolding international crisis.

‘Some uncharitable people have been saying I was lounging on the beach as the situation rapidly deteriorated.

‘Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is I suddenly remembered I had left my water wings on the beach after my regular 6am swim before starting work and merely rushed down to retrieve them. My friend Boris will back me up on this.’

In another three star review, entitled ‘for a friend’, Nicholas stated: ‘My pal Dom came here recently.

‘He is a busy foreign secretary of an independent island nation with a great history and, according to him, a great future.

‘He was planning to relax and take things easy but got completely overwhelmed by the NATO evacuations from Afghanistan which he was completely taken by surprise despite being the foreign secretary of a NATO member.

‘Nevertheless, Dom’s stay was excellent. He was rarely distracted or disturbed and he had time to completely download from work.

‘He relaxed so much that he overlooked the abject failure of U.K. foreign policy that had occured during his stay – 100 per cent relax, 100 per cent foreign policy failure.’

All the fake reviews appear to have been taken down.

it comes as the UK may have to pull all its remaining troops out of Afghanistan by Friday – ahead of the US’ deadline for withdrawal on August 31.

Mr Raab said the UK will use ‘every hour’ left to evacuate those remaining in the country.

US President Joe Biden has rejected calls from Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other allies to delay his exit date, citing the heightened security risks to troops.

Mr Raab said Britain is working ‘as fast as we can’ to maximise the number of people who can flee, saying 2,000 have been evacuated in the previous 24 hours.

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