Healey admits MoD ‘serious departmental error’ put thousands of Afghans at risk

Defence secretary John Healey has admitted a “serious departmental error” within the Ministry of Defence put hundreds of thousands of Afghans at risk. Speaking to MPs in parliament on Tuesday (15 July), Mr Healey revealed that a leaked spreadsheet which contained the details of 25,000 Afghan asylum applicants, as well as MPs and senior military officers, was mistakenly sent out in February 2022. He said: “This was a serious departmental error. It was in clear breach of strict data protocols.” Details of a relocation scheme following the breach which involved over 16,000 Afghans at a cost of £6billion were released today after the lifting of a superinjunction.