The prime minister's remarks come after whistleblower emails raised further questions over his insistence that he did not intervene.

Last December the prime minister dismissed claims made by a former Foreign Office official that the government prioritised animals over people as "complete nonsense".

But new emails released by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the government's handling of the Afghanistan crisis, suggest Mr Johnson did personally authorise rescue efforts for pets and animals.

On 25 August 2021, an official working for Foreign Office minister Lord Goldsmith sent an email to the Foreign Office "special cases" team regarding the possible evacuation of an unnamed animal charity.

In it the official writes: "Equivalent charity Nowzad, run by an ex-Royal Marine, has received a lot of publicity and the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated, [animal charity - name redacted] are hoping to be treated in the same capacity".

This appears to support claims made last year in written evidence by whistleblower Raphael Marshall, a desk officer at the Foreign Office, that the department "received an instruction from the prime minister" to use "considerable capacity" to help animals leave the country that were being cared for by Nowzad, run by Paul "Pen" Farthing.

Sky News has also obtained leaked emails which appear to show that Mr Johnson's top parliamentary aide, Trudy Harrison, told Virgin Atlantic her efforts to secure a plane to evacuate animals from Kabul were backed by the government and that permissions would be "fast tracked".

In addition, Ms Harrison contacted a private charter company in the hope of securing a plane to transport animals and staff during the evacuation of Afghanistan, telling them that her boss was keen.