WATCH LIVE – Starmer faces Prime Minister’s Questions after Afghan data breach revealed | ITV News

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WATCH LIVE - Starmer faces Prime Minister's Questions after Afghan data breach revealed | ITV News

A dataset that contained the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) was released "in error" in February 2022 by a defence official.

It is understood that the official emailed the data outside a secure government system whilst attempting to verify information.

They believed the dataset to only have 150 rows, but more than 33,000 rows of data were inadvertently sent.

The government did not comment to say whether the officials involved had faced disciplinary action or were still employed by the MoD.

The current Defence Secretary, John Healey, said the person involved in the leak is no longer "doing the same job".

The Ministry of Defence only became aware of the breach after excerpts of the dataset were posted anonymously on a Facebook group in August 2023.

A superinjunction was then granted at the High Court in an attempt to prevent the Taliban from finding out about the leak.

Sir Ben said that when he was informed of the “error”, he was “determined that the first priority was to protect all those that might be at risk”.

“I make no apology for applying to the court for an injunction at the time. It was not, as some are childishly trying to claim, a cover-up,” he said.

“I took the view that if this leak was reported at the time, the existence of the list would put in peril those we needed to help out.

“Some may disagree but imagine if the Taliban had been alerted to the existence of this list. I would dread to think what would have happened.”

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Date: July 16, 2025