7 h. ago ANDREW NEIL: This breathtaking Afghan scandal risks ripping asunder the contract of trust between voters and leaders without which democracy cannot survive

The British state put thousands of lives at risk. It covered up its blunder with an unprecedented legal gag and with threats of jail for anybody even thinking about breaking it.

Politics

7 h. ago JOHN HEALEY: As Defence Secretary, I thank everyone at the Mail for their work on the Afghan airlifts. This was responsible journalism

Daily Mail readers have always recognised the bravery and dedication of our outstanding Armed Forces, who serve around the world to keep our nation safe.

Society

11 h. ago Political superinjunctions put governments beyond the law – these powers must never be used again

Editorial: The Afghan leak scandal reveals how easy it is for governments to conceal terrible blunders for so long. The law must be changed so gagging orders cannot be secretly abused

Politics

14 h. ago The Guardian view on the Afghan leak superinjunction: a dangerous precedent is set | Editorial

In an era of mistrust in politics, the government now has a duty to bring maximum transparency to a very opaque scandalOne of many extraordinary features of the data breach that put tens of thousands of Afghan lives in jeopardy is the length of time between the original leak and the government taking action. The email containing a highly sensitive dataset was sent from a Ministry of Defence computer in February 2022. Ministers were not aware of the problem until August 2023.The fact that the MoD’s systems were lax enough for the error to have been made is worrying enough. The delayed response is more alarming still. And then there is the disturbing mechanism by which the whole scandal was kept from the public eye.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago Betrayal after betrayal: Afghan special forces abandoned by Britain had details leaked in MoD data breach

Soldiers from two specialist units have faced death and torture by the Taliban after being let down by Britain

Politics

18 h. ago Voices: We’re all owed an apology for the disastrous MoD data leak

Defiant politicians like Ben Wallace need to stop trying to wriggle out of the events that led to a superinjunction, writes Sean O'Grady – and own up to what led to this catastrophe

Events

18 h. ago Voices: ‘We failed those who protected us’: Independent readers react to UK’s ‘shameful’ MoD data breach

Our community has reacted with anger, disbelief and deep concern to revelations that a catastrophic Ministry of Defence data breach, which put tens of thousands of Afghans at risk, was kept hidden under a superinjunction for nearly two years, as the government quietly launched a covert evacuation programme

Events

19 h. ago UK government auditor questions MoD disclosures of Afghan data leak

Ministry accused of not telling National Audit Office about leak in ‘the established way for sensitive defence matters’

Politics

19 h. ago Starmer says Labour ‘inherited Tories’ failings’ from Afghan data leak, must answer ‘serious questions’

Sir Keir Starmer has said that the Conservatives have “serious questions to answer” over the Afghan data breach that put nearly 100,000 Afghans at risk of being killed by the Taliban.

Events

20 h. ago Starmer says Tories have ‘serious questions to answer’ over Afghan data breach

Sir Keir Starmer has said that the Conservatives have “serious questions to answer” over the Afghan data breach that put nearly 100,000 Afghans at risk of being killed by the Taliban.

Politics

22 h. ago No automatic right to resettlement for Afghans in data leak, says Healey

Defence secretary says it was ‘never the plan to bring everyone’ on dataset to UK, while Ben Wallace denies Tories sought superinjunctionUK politics live – latest updatesThe defence secretary, John Healey, has said there is no automatic right to resettlement for Afghans named in a leaked Ministry of Defence database, as the former Conservative ministers Ben Wallace and Johnny Mercer clashed over whether “thousands of people with little or tenuous links” had been admitted to Britain.The controversy revolves around a dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) that was released “in error” in February 2022 by a British defence official. Continue reading...

Politics

32 h. ago Ministers STILL won't come clean on secret airlifts after the Mail revealed 18,500 Afghans were brought to Britain as part of £7BILLION scheme

Defence Secretary John Healey's emergency explanation to Parliament appeared at odds with facts heard at secret High Court hearings over the last two years.

Politics

32 h. ago Former defence secretary Ben Wallace makes ‘no apology’ for Afghan injunction

A dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people was released ‘in error’ in February 2022.

Politics

34 h. ago Scottish Secretary and defence minister to launch £250m Faslane investment

The UK Government has pledged a multi-billion investment on the Clyde in the coming decades.

Politics

34 h. ago Former defence secretary makes ‘no apology’ for Afghan injunction

Thousands of people are being relocated to the UK as part of a secret £850 million scheme set up in the wake of the breach.

Politics

35 h. ago MoD official responsible for catastrophic Afghan data breach that cost billions still works for government

Email blunder potentially put up to 100,000 people at risk and triggered the evacuation of thousands of Afghans who were brought to the UK under a secret resettlement scheme

Politics

36 h. ago The disastrous MoD data leak should have been cleared up – not covered up

Editorial: The leak itself placed all the Afghans listed in jeopardy. The superinjunction threatened to make the leak even worse, by giving the impression that all of those on it were – in the eyes of the Taliban – traitors

Events

40 h. ago Defence Secretary offers ‘sincere apology’ for leak of Afghans’ personal data

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge also apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, who were in power when the leak occurred.

Politics

42 h. ago MoD data breach latest: MPs vow to investigate Afghan leak ‘mess’ after defence secretary apologises

An unprecedented gagging order prevented details of the government breach being revealed for more than 600 days

Events

42 h. ago Inside the £7bn secret scramble to save lives after MoD data breach

After a leak from the Ministry of Defence, officials faced a race to keep up to 100,000 Afghans from the Taliban’s clutches – with two years of court fights and rescue plans projected to cost billions, all hidden from MPs and the public. Now, after the lifting of an unprecedented superinjunction, the full story can finally be told. Social affairs correspondent Holly Bancroft reports

Society