Overview

• The high court gag order on the secret £1 billion Afghanistan Response Route evacuation programme was lifted last Tuesday, allowing public scrutiny of the breach for the first time.
• Defence Minister John Healey publicly apologised for what he called a “serious departmental error” after the 2022 email mishap that exposed names and contact details.
• An independent review commissioned by the Ministry of Defence concluded in mid-2025 that Taliban exploitation of the leaked information is now unlikely following protective measures.
• The government has resettled roughly 6,900 Afghan applicants and their families in the UK at a cost of about £850 million since the breach was discovered in 2023.
• Lawmakers and rights groups are pressing for a compensation framework amid fears that foreign adversaries may have also accessed the records.