Retreat from Afghanistan began as a farce, then it was a scandal, now it's a cover-up

The retreat from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover successful 2021 began arsenic a farce, past it was a ungraded and present it's a shoddy cover-up.

The farce was erstwhile the past overseas caput Dominic Raab remained connected his vacation sunbed successful Crete alternatively than instrumentality to enactment during the tallness of the evacuation crisis.

Politics latest: Minister atrocious aft 'extraordinary secrecy' concealed information leak

It was a ungraded due to the fact that astir 200 radical were killed successful the chaos, with distressing pictures of terrified Afghans clinging to the wings of moving aeroplanes astatine Kabul airport.

And present we larn that successful a monolithic cover-up, the Tory authorities of Rishi Sunak took retired a superinjunction to gag the media from reporting a information breach that enactment 20,000 Afghans successful danger.

Over the years, superinjunctions granted by UK courts person been condemned for enabling celebrities and sports stars to cover-up extra-marital affairs, drug-taking and different secrets.

The superinjunction granted to the authorities successful 2023 to conceal a concealed strategy to relocate Afghan nationals was evidently wholly antithetic and nary uncertainty sought for honourable motives.

But it was a cover-up nevertheless and not truthful honourable due to the fact that it hid a information blunder exposing names and interaction details of 18,000 radical who had applied for asylum successful the UK nether a resettlement scheme.

The strategy had been acceptable up by the authorities successful 2021 to supply asylum for radical who had worked with the UK equipped forces and could beryllium astatine hazard of Taliban reprisals for moving with occidental forces.

In the Commons, the existent defence secretary, John Healey, said it was "deeply uncomfortable" to beryllium prevented from reporting the information breach blunder to MPs until now.

The ministers progressive successful seeking the gagging bid were the erstwhile defence caput Ben Wallace and the past equipped forces curate James Heappey, helium said.

But portion astir MPs welcomed Mr Healey's apology, it's astir apt just to accidental that if it hadn't been for tenacious campaigning by media organisations the superinjunction mightiness not person been lifted by the High Court.

One Tory MP, Mark Pritchard, accused the defence caput of "wriggling" and said: "The information is that helium is justifying this superinjunction and not telling parliament, the press, the nationalist and, unbelievably, the Afghans who were perchance successful harm's way."

And, among a fig of idiosyncratic cases highlighted by MPs, Liberal Democrat Calum Miller told MPs that "in the chaos of withdrawal" a constituent who near Afghanistan was promised by British officials that his large woman could travel him.

"Two years later, we person inactive not kept that promise," said Mr Miller. "My constituent's woman and kid proceed to determination astir successful Afghanistan to evade the Taliban and my constituent is truthful hopeless that helium is talking astir returning to Afghanistan - contempt the hazard to him - to beryllium reunited with them."

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Reform UK's Zia Yusuf deed retired astatine the Tory government's asylum policy, penning connected X: "24k Afghans secretly granted asylum, costing British taxpayers up to £7bn.

"The authorities covered it up. Who was successful government? Home secretary: Suella Braverman. Immigration minister: Robert Jenrick."

Later, Mr Healey was asked connected LBC's News Agents podcast if the authoritative liable for the information breach is inactive employed by the government. "They are nary longer doing the aforesaid occupation connected the Afghan brief," helium replied.

Hmm. That suggests the idiosyncratic hasn't been fired, which volition alarm those MPs who stay highly acrophobic astir this full fiasco.

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Asked whether helium would person taken retired the superinjunction if helium had been defence caput successful 2023, helium replied: "Very, precise unlikely."

But erstwhile helium was asked if helium could regularisation retired the usage of superinjunctions by the Ministry of Defence successful the future, Mr Healey said: "Well, you tin ne'er accidental never."

So portion Mr Healey volition evidently beryllium determined to debar a farce successful future, it appears that the menace of different Ministry of Defence cover-up successful aboriginal hasn't gone away.