Afghan scandal intensifies as Tory reveals civil servants 'didn't know' who worked for UK

A former minister involved in the relocation of Afghans who supported UK forces believes there was "chaos" between Government departments when the data breach occurred. Sarah Atherton said when she was in the Ministry of Defence, she was shocked that defence officials were unaware of who had exactly worked for the UK and was eligible to come to Britain under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme..

Ms Atherton, who was minister for defence people, veterans and service families between September and October 2022, said when she raised concerns, she was told it was "basically above my pay grade". She told the Express: "I was obviously asking questions about the ARAP scheme and was surprised to hear from the Civil Service that they didn't know exactly who had worked for the British government.

"They didn't know the number but had tens of thousands of applications under the ARAP scheme and that was clogging down the process. They were having problems then and I was concerned about that."

She added: "I was told it was all in hand and basically above my pay grade."

Ms Atherton's comments will raise further concerns over the UK's response to the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 as questions continue to be asked over the Ministry of Defence (MoD) data breachthat inadvertently leaked personal information of nearly 19,000 people wanting to flee to Britain.

The blunder, which prompted fears of a Taliban "kill list", has only just been made public knowledge after a superinjunction was lifted on Tuesday.

It happened in February 2022, but the MoD only became aware when excerpts of the leaked dataset were anonymously posted onto a Facebook group in August 2023.

Following the incident, a secret rescue mission was set up expecting to cost £850 million - pushing the total amount of all UK Afghan relocations to up to £6 billion, although previous Government estimates were set at £7 billion.

It is thought that around 24,000 people, including family members, affected by the breach have arrived or will come to the UK.

Ms Atherton, an Army veteran, said: "Why did we not have a definitive list of people who worked for us and identified who their relatives were? It was obvious that this was going to be needed.

"It was a scheme that just didn't happen overnight, it had to be planned.

"That surprises me of the MoD but what has been really surprising is how the Civil Service has not been able to work together in a pressured situation to deliver."

Ms Atherton, who was not aware of the court order stopping the leak from being revealed, said she supports the initial injunction but not the upgrading to the superinjunction.

She added that the decisions made by the successive Conservative and Labour governments must be scrutinised.

It is believed the leak may have put up to 100,000 people at risk of death or serious harm from the Taliban.

James Heappey, who was the Armed Forces minister between July 2022 and March 2024, offered a "sincere apology" as he broke his silence on the breach.

"We let the country down badly," he added.

A MoD spokesperson said: "The Afghan resettlement schemes were set up under the previous government.

"The Defence Secretary has since established the Afghan Resettlement Programme, which brings them together as a single cross-government scheme to improve efficiency.

"Since the election, the government has also put a huge emphasis on improving data security across the department through better software, training and data experts."