The Armed Forces minister at the time of the Afghan data leak last night admitted that he and other officials had ‘let the country down badly’.
James Heappey’s rare mea culpa came after other ministers sought to distance themselves from the catalogue of errors and failures to inform Parliament about what went wrong.
Mr Heappey was minister when the data breach – putting thousands of Afghans on a Taliban ‘kill list’ – was uncovered in 2023 and when the super-injunction to keep it secret was granted.
The former Conservative MP, who gave up his seat at last year’s election, also defended the official responsible for the leak, which occurred 18 months before it was discovered.
A military officer working for United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF), accidentally emailed the database of 18,714 Afghans to someone, thinking he was sending just 150 names to be checked for possible relocation to Britain.
It emerged yesterday the leak also included British Special Forces officers and MI6 spies. The officer was moved to a new role but not sacked.
In a 25-message-long thread on X, Mr Heappey said: ‘It was gut-wrenching to find out that someone in the Ministry of Defence had screwed up so awfully although I came to find subsequently they were incredibly dedicated to those we served with in Afghanistan.
‘Few had done more to get people who served alongside our Special Forces out of Afghanistan.
The Armed Forces minister at the time of the Afghan data leak, James Heappey (pictured), last night admitted that he and other officials had ‘let the country down badly’
Frontline interpreter Jamil, 36, (face pixellated for his own security) out in the field in Afghanstan was one of those affected by the data leak
Another former translator Khan, pictured here serving with UK forces, was hunted down and wounded by the Taliban
‘It is incredibly unfair that someone who’d done so much good and changed so many lives deservedly for the better, should be responsible.
‘But the worst part of all, of course, was the mortal danger we feared this breach presented to applicants whose details had been compromised. The intelligence assessment was clear: if the Taliban got their hands on the list, violent and even lethal reprisal was likely.
‘The Ministry of Defence was magnificent in response to it all. But on this breach, we let the country down badly.’
Mr Heappey said he was not involved in setting up any of the injunctions surrounding the data leak, but he backed the decisions to impose them.
He added that issues arising from the breach resulted in fierce arguments between ministers and ‘some pretty choice words’ in meetings.
The leak led to the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) – in April 2024. Its existence was revealed on Tuesday when the near-two-year super-injunction was lifted.
Yesterday former home secretary Suella Braverman and Tory justice spokesman Robert Jenrick said they strongly opposed the plan to bring more than 24,000 Afghans to Britain.
It was also reported that those in the Treasury, plus the likes of Sir James Cleverly, the foreign secretary at the time, and Michael Gove, the then-communities secretary, were against it.
Key figures yet to break cover include a former Special Forces chief, a Chief of the Defence Staff and Sir Grant Shapps, the defence secretary at the time the injunction was upgraded to a super-injunction and the decision was taken to launch the ARR.
General Sir Gwyn Jenkins was director of Special Forces at the time of the leak. In August 2023, when it was discovered, Sir Gwyn was invited to a Cobra meeting in Whitehall. Asked by a minister if he should resign, he reportedly replied: ‘Certainly not.’
Downing Street has been forced to defend Sir Gwyn’s role this week, putting out a statement saying he had ‘no role in any aspect of the Afghan resettlement schemes’.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin was Chief of the Defence Staff when the leak was discovered and when it occurred the previous year. The same minister who asked if Sir Gwyn would resign also asked if Sir Tony was going to fall on his sword, and was similarly rebuffed.
