The Liberal Democrats have accused the Defence Secretary of misleading MPs over a crucial element of the Afghanistan data leak scandal. Just days ago John Healey told MPs: “No serving member of our armed forces is put at risk by the data loss.”
However last night a further court order blocking details of the story from being published was lifted, revealing that the identities of 100 British officials, including spies and special forces, were also compromised by the leak. The 100 Britons were in addition to the nearly 19,000 Afghans who had their details leaked in 2022. Defence sources said the details of MI6 spies, the SAS and special forces personnel were included in the spreadsheet after they had backed Afghans who applied for sanctuary in Britain.
Asked by a Liberal Democrat MP on Tuesday whether the data breach put any serving members of the UK armed forces at risk, Mr Healey replied: “To the best of my knowledge and belief, no serving member of our armed forces is put at risk by the data loss.”
The party’s leader Sir Ed Davey has now accused the Defence Secretary of misleading MPs, a grave breach of parliamentary rules.
Sir Ed 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.”
LibDem Ian Roome, who served in the RAF and asked the question of Mr Healey, warned: “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 that he now clarifies his remarks. It is the least that our brave armed forces personnel along with the thousands of Afghans impacted deserve.”
A Downing Street spokesman 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” after the Liberal Democrats accused him of misleading Parliament.
Asked if John 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.”
In a statement on Tuesday, after an unprecedented superinjunction was lifted by a High Court judge, Defence Secretary John Healey offered a “sincere apology” on behalf of the British Government for the data breach.
He later told the Commons the spreadsheet contained “names and contact details of applicants and, in some instances, information relating to applicants’ family members, and in a small number of cases the names of members of Parliament, senior military officers and Government officials were noted as supporting the application”.
“This was a serious departmental error,” he added.
Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge also apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, which was in power when the leak happened and when it was discovered more than a year later.