He said former ministers have “serious questions to answer” over leak
At PMQs today, prime minister Keir Starmer said that former Tory ministers had “serious questions to answer” over a secret scheme to resettle Afghan nationals who were named in a data leak.
The breach, which occurred in February 2022, saw a British official mistakenly leak personal details of Afghans who had applied to move to the UK following the Taliban’s takeover.
Starmer said he supports a planned inquiry into what happened led by the Commons defence committee, adding that he hoped “those who were in office at the time will welcome that scrutiny”.
He told MPs: “We warned in opposition about Conservative management of this policy, and yesterday, the defence secretary set out the full extent of the failings that we inherited: a major data breach, a superinjunction, a secret route that has already cost hundreds of millions of pounds.”
He added: “Ministers who served under the party opposite have serious questions to answer about how this was ever allowed to happen.”
At the time of the data breach, the Conservative government applied to the courts for a super-injunction to prevent journalists from reporting on the leak. The super-injunction was lifted yesterday.
Thousands of Afghan nationals have been relocated to the UK as part of a secret £850 million scheme set up after the breach.
At PMQs, Starmer slammed the previous government’s failures in managing the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.
The official scheme was designed to help Afghans who worked with the UK during its military presence in Afghanistan, which ended in 2021, resettle safely in Britain.
This morning, the Former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace said he took responsibility for the mistake, but said he makes “no apology” for applying for an injunction blocking reporting about the leak.
The unprecedented superinjunction helped keep the data breach secret for three years.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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