THE Government is still battling in courts to keep details behind the Afghan data leak secret – as it emerged the dataset included information about more than 100 Brits.
Defence sources have said that personal details of MPs, MI6 agents and special forces personnel who endorsed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the UK were also released in the email blunder.
PADefence Secretary John Healey making a statement to MPs in the House of Commons[/caption]
GettyLawyers acting for the Ministry of Defence have gone to court today to defend a second injunction connected to the leak[/caption]
Evacuation of Afghans in 2021 – ahead of the Tory Government’s secret airlift two years later
Defence Secretary John Healey said historic super-injunction that was used by successive governments gag the press for two years was “in many ways unconscionable”.
He told MPs: “No government wishes to withhold information from the British public, from parliamentarians or the press in this manner.”
Yet lawyers acting for the Ministry of Defence have gone to court today to defend a second injunction connected to the leak.
At the opening of the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice today MoD lawyers requested a hearing behind closed doors.
It meant once again the media could not hear what they went on to say.
Mr Justice Chamberlain said he would be “scrutinising very carefully any justification for holding any parts of this hearing in private, never mind in closed”.
The identities of spies and serving special forces are already covered by a convention known as the D Notice System.
It prohibits the publication of sensitive personal information that reveals the identity, location or contact details members of “members of the UK Security and Intelligence Agencies, MOD, Special Forces and Operational Cyber Units”.
The superinjunction which lifted on Tuesday was the first time the government had used one to gag the press.
It also prevented the government from telling parliament of top secret air lift mission that flew 4,500 Afghan migrants to Britain and is expected to cost almost £1bn.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer claimed the Conservative government which secured the injunction had “serious questions to answer”.
It came after a British Special Forces soldier accidentally sent a list of 18,714 names of Afghans who had applied for asylum in Britain after Kabul fell to the Taliban.
He thought he was sending a shorter list of 150 people to a trusted group of former comrades.
But the spreadsheet contained details of almost everyone who had applied to flee Afghanistan to Britain on the grounds that they had helped UK forces between 2001 and 2021.
It also included their contact details, their last known locations and in some cases their UK sponsors.
Parts of the list were later published on Facebook triggering a massive government cover-up and a secret mission code named Operation
Absurdly, the government is still defending its injunction even though Healey revealed details of what it’s trying to keep secret in parliament.
He said: “It contained names and contact details of applicants – and some instances, information relating to the applicants’ family members.
“In a small number of cases Mr Speaker, the names of Members of Parliament, senior military officers and government officials were noted as supporting the application.”
Some news organisations covered by the injunction – which does not include The Sun – are banned from reporting what Healey said in Parliament.
The leak, which included details of a “secret route” for some of those affected to come to the UK, was only discovered when excerpts were put on Facebook in August 2023.
The next month, the Tory government used a superinjunction to stop journalists reporting the breach. It was extended until being lifted by a High Court judge this Tuesday.
The potential huge bill emerged as Nigel Farage claimed “convicted sex offenders” were among the Afghans secretly airlifted into the UK.
The Reform UK leader said the rescue of almost 20,000 Afghans is a risk to women’s safety — triggering a row with Labour and the Tories.
Defence Secretary John Healey insisted everyone had been checked “carefully” for any criminal records.
And he said if Mr Farage had any hard evidence, he should report it to police.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride also said Mr Farage should provide evidence for his claims.
Sir Ben Wallace, Defence Secretary at the time, insisted there was not a cover-up and the gagging order was to protect at-risk Afghans, and he made “no apology” for doing so.
PAReform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed ‘convicted sex offenders’ were among the Afghans secretly airlifted into the UK[/caption]
AFPThen-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace refused to apologise for the gagging order[/caption]
Around 100,000 Afghans were put at risk of death when their names or loved ones’ were revealed Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
