Downing Street defends defence secretary after accusations he misled parliament

Downing Street has defended Defence Secretary John Healey after accusations he misled MPs when saying no serving armed forces personnel were put at risk by the Afghan data breach.

Number 10 said the Defence Secretary’s statement to the Commons, in which he said that “to the best of my knowledge” no serving armed forces personnel were put at risk by the breach, was “accurate.”

Opposition critics have demanded the minister “correct the record” after it emerged days later that MI6 spies and members of the SAS were among those named in a list emailed out “in error” February 2022.

Asked whether Mr Healey had misled MPs, a Number 10 spokesperson said: “I believe it was an accurate statement.”

They said the Government is “committed to transparency” and “in terms of security of our personnel, we take that extremely seriously, particularly those in sensitive positions”.

"Today I'm announcing a change in government policy," said Defence Secretary John Healey as he disclosed the formerly secret resettlement scheme.

The accusations follow the revelation that in 2022 thousands of people began being secretly relocated to the UK from Afghanistan after a data breach from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) risked their lives.

A dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) was released "in error" by a defence official.

The scheme is understood to have cost around £400 million so far, with a projected cost once completed of around £850 million.

Millions more are expected to be paid in legal costs and compensation.

This information came to light after a superinjunction prohibiting its reporting was lifted by the high court on Tuesday.

It emerged days later that the leaked information also included the names of around 100 British spies and special forces officers names.

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Speaking on Friday, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Three days ago John Healey claimed no-one serving in the armed forces was put at risk by the data breach. 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.”

Meanwhile, former Conservative ministers have sought to distance themselves from the handling of the breach after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said members of the previous government had “serious questions to answer” over their handling of the leak.

Speaking Friday morning, former Defence Secretary Sir Grant Shapps said he had kept the superinjunction in place in order to “save lives” and err “on the side of extreme caution."

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about his handling of the issue he claimed he, "would do the same thing all over again," in order to save lives.

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