To be fair this question and answer took place towards the end of July. The answer was provided on 20th July and the question which was a written document was made a few days earlier. The question came from Sally-Ann Hart, the Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye and the answer came from Wendy Morton who is the MP for Aldridge-Brownhills and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Although many of us were aware of the Afghanistan issue as early as 20th July to be fair we could not know what the response would be. However this answer can now be viewed following the Afghanistan withdrawal which demonstrates very clearly that our work as part of G7 did not achieve any results and so therefore we did not have soft power. Anyway here is the question and answer that took part just over a month ago

Sally-Ann Hart: What steps he is taking to enhance UK soft power overseas.

Wendy Morton: The Integrated Review highlighted the UK’s status as a soft power superpower.

The FCDO is continuing to fund projects and programmes that support UK soft power, including through a 27% increase this year in funding for the British Council

Since 2016, we have provided over £370m via the BBC World2020 programme, which has seen the creation of 12 new language services, and we continue to support our Chevening, Marshall and Commonwealth scholarships.

Our international leadership and determination to work as a force for good in the world is an important part of our soft power, as we are seeing through our hosting of the G7 and COP26, and our support for a globally accessible Covid-19 vaccine.