Defence Secretary John Healey faced accusations of a cover-up over a data breach involving 18,000 endangered Afghans and a secret relocation scheme costing at least £800 million. The Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) is being wound up, with Healey giving a Commons statement after a superinjunction was lifted.
Healey apologised for keeping Parliament in the dark, citing the superinjunction as the reason. He claimed the secrecy was necessary to protect Afghans, but critics argue the breach itself put lives at risk. The data leak, which occurred under the previous Conservative government, involved a spreadsheet of names being accidentally emailed to an unauthorised recipient.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge sought to absolve both parties, minimising his own role and blaming former ministers Ben Wallace and Grant Shapps. Healey commended MPs for their measured tone, but commentators described the session as a 'non-mea culpa' exercise, lacking righteous anger over the government's cavalier handling of sensitive data.
The ARR was launched to relocate Afghans at risk, but its existence was kept secret even from those whose data was leaked. Healey insisted the Taliban had become more cooperative, allowing the scheme to end. However, questions remain about the hypocrisy of the 'Stop the Boats' policy while running a private relocation programme.
