John Healey ‘misled' Parliament over Afghan data leak

Telegraph

2 days ago

John Healey has been accused of misleading Parliament over the Afghan data breach.
Three days ago, the Defence Secretary told MPs that no serving member of the Armed Forces had been put at risk by the leak.
However, it emerged on Thursday that the identities of more than 100 British officials, including members of the special forces and MI6, had been compromised.
Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, demanded Mr Healey come before the House of Commons to face questions on whether he knowingly misled MPs and the public.
'Three days ago, John Healey claimed no one serving in the Armed Forces was put at risk by the data breach,' he said. 'Today, we found out that appears to be false.
'We need to know if any serving members of the armed forces were impacted, and the Defence Secretary must urgently come before Parliament to answer the question of whether he knowingly misled MPs and the public.'
The information about the effect of the data breach on UK personnel was kept secret by an super-injunction until Thursday, when the order was lifted in part by a High Court judge.
It allowed media organisations to reveal that detailed case notes in the database contained personal data of special forces and spies.
The Government had already admitted on Tuesday that the data of nearly 19,000 Afghans who worked with the British during the 20-year war in Afghanistan and applied to resettle in the UK had been inadvertently leaked.
Many were judged to be at risk of serious harm or even death as the Taliban sought retribution against those who had worked with the British government during the conflict.
The data breach occurred in February 2022 but was not discovered by the government until August 2023, when someone in Afghanistan obtained the data and posted part of it on Facebook.
The data on UK personnel that was leaked involved their names, but there were no contact details such as addresses, telephone numbers or email addresses.
It comes after Sir Grant Shapps, who was defence secretary when the injunction was first put in place, said he would 'do the same thing all over again'.
He added: 'You simply can't release everything and this was one of those times where, faced with a decision of protecting lives, both Brits and Afghanis, I would do the same thing all over again.'
Mr Healey made his comment in the Commons in response to a question from Ian Roome, a Lib Dem MP and member of the defence select committee.
He said: 'To the best of my knowledge and belief, no serving member of our armed forces is put at risk by the data loss.'
Speaking on Friday morning, Mr Roome said: 'The Defence Secretary gave me his assurances just three days ago that no serving members of our Armed Forces were put at risk by this appalling data breach. I am very concerned to find out that this appears not to have been correct.
'It is really important to restore public trust, and he now clarifies his remarks. It is the least that our brave armed forces personnel, along with the thousands of Afghans impacted, deserve.'
Downing Street said the Defence Secretary's statement to the Commons that 'no serving member of our armed forces is put at risk' by the Afghan data leak was 'accurate' despite Sir Ed's accusations to the contrary.
Asked if Mr Healey misled the House, a No 10 spokesman said: 'The Defence Secretary's statement to the House… I believe it was an accurate statement.'
He said the Government is 'committed to transparency', adding: 'In terms of security of our personnel, we take that extremely seriously, particularly those in sensitive positions.
'We always have appropriate measures in place to protect their security.'
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: 'It's long-standing policy of successive governments to not comment on special forces.
'We take the security of our personnel very seriously and personnel, particularly those in sensitive positions, always have appropriate measures in place to protect their security.'