3 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

6 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

12 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

12 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

12 h. ago Healey: ‘No justification for most names in Afghan data leak to claim asylum in Britain’

John Healey has said there is “no justification” for most of the names in Afghan data leak to claim asylum, stating that the majority of individuals had no connection to Britain’s armed forces.

Events

13 h. ago Live: Starmer faces questions in final PMQs before summer recess

Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch face off in Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday (16 July).

Politics

15 h. ago Healey: Accountability starts now over Afghan data leak and injunction

Thousands of people have been relocated to the UK as part of a secret scheme set up after data on Afghans who supported British forces was leaked.

Politics

29 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

30 h. ago The Guardian view on the children of Gaza: when 17,000 die, it’s more than a mistake | Editorial

Israel’s military blamed the deaths of six Palestinian children on Sunday on a technical error. But a staggering toll continues to mountOn Sunday, an Israeli strike killed six Palestinian children – and four adults – as they queued for water in a refugee camp. The deaths of children may be the most terrible part of any war. It is not only the suffering of the innocent and powerless, and the unimaginable pain of surviving parents – as dreadful as those are – but the knowledge of lives ended when they had barely begun, of futures that should have stretched long into the distance severed in an instant.As shocking as Sunday’s deaths were, they are commonplace in Gaza: a classroom-worth of children have been killed each day since the war began. What marked them out was that so many deaths happened at once and publicly; and that Israel’s military felt obliged to acknowledge its responsibility – though without any great contrition. It claimed that a “technical error with the munition” caus...

Events

35 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

37 h. ago UK set up secret Afghan immigration scheme after data leak and gagged media

‘Super-injunction’ lifted two years after 25,000 were placed at risk of Taliban reprisals

Politics

37 h. ago UK set up secret Afghan immigration scheme and gagged media after data leak

‘Super-injunction’ lifted two years after 100,000 people were placed at risk of Taliban reprisals

Politics

54 h. ago The Guardian view on a climate reckoning: an annual address could set a new standard for political accountability | Editorial

The energy secretary framed environmental action as practical and patriotic, not in terms of wordy ideological pieties. But holding the line won’t be easyEd Miliband is a target for the political right; not because he’s irrelevant, but because he’s effective. The bacon sandwich gags and “Red Ed” jokes mask a deeper unease: that Mr Miliband, with his dogged insistence on science, public investment and long-term thinking, is right. Now, as energy secretary, he has delivered what he calls an exercise in “radical truth-telling” and a stark warning to MPs that rejecting climate action is a betrayal of future generations. The language, for once, isn’t overblown. It’s belated.By highlighting the Met Office’s annual State of the UK Climate report, Mr Miliband shows that the hotter, wetter and more arduous future we feared has already arrived. Extremes are becoming the norm: the number of very hot days has quadrupled; in the last 250 years, six of the 10 wettest winter half-years have o...

Politics

54 h. ago The Guardian view on Europe’s Trump challenge: Brussels must hold its nerve and think big | Editorial

A renewed threat of punitive tariffs from the White House is a reminder that the EU must invest in its own values in a volatile and transforming worldAs the world has grown used to Donald Trump delivering aggressive ultimatums that are then revised or watered down, the shock-and-awe effect of a presidential edict on Truth Social has somewhat diminished. On Saturday, Mr Trump unexpectedly announced that the United States would hit the European Union with swingeing tariffs on goods of 30% from 1 August. That certainly prompted urgent weekend discussions in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. But for now, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is placing all countermeasures on hold, in the hope that what the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, described as “reasonable solutions” can be found.Given the stakes, betting on the success of a softly, softly approach to trade negotiations remains sensible. Mr Trump’s previous imposition of 25% tariffs on European carmakers ...

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on Brics growing up: A new bloc seeks autonomy – and eyes a post

The expanding group of emerging powers is building new rules, new tools and a shared industrial future – with or without Donald TrumpThe Brics summit in Brazil last week revealed a loose alliance of emerging powers becoming more complex – and perhaps more consequential. For Brics, heft matters. It now counts 11 member states – including Indonesia, which joined this year – representing half the world’s population and 40% of the global economy, outpacing the G7 by $20tn.Yet its size hides its contradictions. The grouping’s call for more inclusive global institutions sounds welcome, but there is a preponderance of autocracies within its own ranks. Brics is right that international law should be upheld in Middle Eastern conflicts. But it climbs down from its moral pedestal by condemning Ukraine’s strikes on Russian infrastructure – while staying silent on Moscow’s relentless attacks on civilians. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on private prosecutions: access to justice should not depend on people’s ability to pay | Editorial

An option that should provide a safety valve when the state falls short appears to be increasingly a tool for businesses – sometimes to draconian effectIn England and Wales, anyone can take a suspected criminal to court. Private criminal prosecutions, which can be initiated by individuals, companies or charities, can give people a shot at justice. They can also be open to abuse. The Post Office brought 918 successful private prosecutions against its employees to protect its own commercial interests – at a shocking human cost laid bare by an official report last week. Rail companies take the draconian measure of prosecuting people for mistakenly buying the incorrect ticket: in 2023, a woman received a criminal record for erroneously using her railcard to save a total of £1.60.In the context of a depleted justice budget, these prosecutions appear especially dystopian, allowing the wealthy to pay for their day in court. No official record exists for the number now taking place, though&...

Economics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on Starmer and Macron’s channel crossings deal: safe routes hold the key to future progress | Editorial

The government has hailed its ‘one in, one out’ migrant returns deal as a breakthrough. But awkward questions over its implementation remainTo use a football analogy that he might appreciate, the first year of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership has been a game of two halves. Domestically, grievous strategic mistakes have been made. On the foreign stage, however, an approach that Sir Keir likes to style as “quiet, serious diplomacy” has yielded some tangible results.For the most part, this week’s state visit by Emmanuel Macron further showcased the benefits of leaving behind the blowhard politics of the post-Brexit years. Sir Keir and the French president used the occasion to pledge greater cooperation on security and strengthened their joint commitment to safeguarding Ukraine’s future as a sovereign independent state. But the biggest take-away from Mr Macron’s trip launched the prime minister straight back into toxic domestic terrain.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this a...

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on The Salt Path scandal: memoirists have a duty to tell the truth | Editorial

In an era of misinformation, trust in publishers is more important than ever“All autobiographies are lies,” George Bernard Shaw wrote in 1898. “I do not mean unconscious, unintentional lies: I mean deliberate lies.” The veracity of autobiographical writing is under scrutiny once again following allegations that the bestselling memoir The Salt Path is not quite the “unflinchingly honest” account of one couple’s triumph over adversity as billed.Even if you are not one of the two million people to have bought the book, and haven’t seen the film released this summer, you will doubtless know the story of a couple’s 630-mile journey along the South Coast Way after facing homelessness and a diagnosis of terminal illness. Published in 2018, The Salt Path struck a chord during lockdown as readers discovered the solace of walking and nature during the pandemic. But this tale of wild-camping and the kindness of strangers, not to mention the seemingly miraculous healing powers of...

Politics

6 d. ago The Guardian view on Ukraine’s future: Putin may be gaining ground, but he is not winning | Editorial

As Russia intensifies its brutal assault, morale is battered but unbroken. European solidarity must remain strong tooEuropean leaders gathered in Rome on Thursday for a conference on Ukrainian recovery, but endurance remains the priority. Russia has intensified its assault with punishing strikes far beyond the frontline – including a record 728 drones and 13 missiles one day before the conference. The UN said that civilian casualties last month were at their highest for three years, with at least 232 people killed and 1,343 injured.Russia’s brutal offensive aims to break Ukraine’s spirit and European solidarity. Even Donald Trump appears to be realising, with encouragement, that Moscow is not interested in peace. For Mr Trump, maximalism is a negotiating tactic; he does not recognise that for Vladimir Putin it reflects a fixation. Yet this week he acknowledged: “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.”...

Politics

9 d. ago The Guardian view on Macron’s state visit: a renewed entente cordiale is good for France, Britain and Europe | Editorial

After being sabotaged in the Brexit years, one of the UK’s most important bilateral relationships is back on a firm footingIn the years after the Brexit referendum, the deterioration of Anglo-French relations became one measure of the sorry disconnect between a radicalised, reckless Conservative party and any sane notion of the national interest. In 2021, a bellicose Boris Johnson sent Royal Navy frigates to patrol off the coast of Jersey in response to a dispute with Paris over fishing rights. The following year, notoriously, Liz Truss declined to say whether she considered the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to be a friend or foe to Britain. For five years, no Franco-British bilateral summits took place at all.That, thankfully, was then. France and Britain are close neighbours, nuclear powers and members of the United Nations security council. At a time of acute geopolitical instability, fuelled in part by the return of Donald Trump to the White House, it is overwhelm...

Politics