
Thousands of Afghans win UK asylum
Defence Minister John Healey unveiled the scheme to parliament after the UK High Court on Tuesday lifted a super-gag order banning any reports of the events.
In February 2022, a spreadsheet containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans who had asked to be relocated to Britain was accidentally leaked by a UK official just six months after Taliban fighters seized Kabul, Healey said.
"This was a serious departmental error," Healey said, adding: "Lives may have been at stake."
The previous Conservative government put in place a secret programme in April 2024 to help those "judged to be at the highest risk of reprisals by the Taliban", he said.
Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have now been brought to Britain or are in transit under the programme known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around £400 million ($535 million), Healey said.
Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to £850 million.
They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul.
As Labour's opposition defence spokesman, Healey was briefed on the scheme in December 2023 but the Conservative government asked a court to impose a "super-injunction" banning any mention of it in parliament or by the press.
When Labour came to power in July 2024, the scheme was in full swing but Healey said he had been "deeply uncomfortable to be constrained from reporting" to parliament.
"Ministers decided not to tell parliamentarians at an earlier stage about the data incident, as the widespread publicity would increase the risk of the Taliban obtaining the dataset," he explained.
Healey set up a review of the scheme when he became defence minister in the new Labour government.
This concluded there was "very little evidence of intent by the Taliban to conduct a campaign of retribution".
The Afghan Response Route has now been closed, the minister said, apologising for the data breach which "should never have happened".
He estimated the total cost of relocating people from Afghanistan to Britain at between £5.5 billion to £6 billion.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business Recorder
India, UK trade deal signals Modi's priorities as New Delhi eyes EU, US pacts
NEW DELHI: India's trade deal with Britain is a sign of New Delhi's new gradual shift to opening up its markets while shielding crucial sectors from competition and could be its template for future agreements, government officials and analysts said on Friday. Signed on Thursday and hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'a blueprint for our shared prosperity', the deal with the UK represents India's biggest ever strategic partnership with an advanced economy. It comes at a time rising global trade tensions and at a pivotal moment for India's historically protectionist trade strategy, as the Asian giant looks to strike similar deals with partners including the EU, U.S., and New Zealand. Under the pact, India notably agreed to cut tariffs on imported British vehicles, opening up competition for a domestic industry that makes up nearly 7% of the Indian economy. 'This is a policy shift, especially as India has long used high tariffs to protect domestic manufacturers,' Ajay Srivastava, founder of Global Trade Research Initiative and a former Indian trade negotiator, told Reuters. India's Modi and UK PM Starmer ink trade deal The easing of its protectionist stance also applies to government procurement and pharmaceuticals and will likely be replicated in deals with Brussels and Washington, he added. But it remains a cautious shift. Under the UK deal, auto imports will be capped under a quota system to shield local manufacturers, and tariff reductions will be gradual. India has committed to reducing auto tariffs from over 100% to 10% over 15 years, within an annual import quota starting at 10,000 units and rising to 19,000 in year five. Tariff reductions on whisky and other goods will also be phased over several years to allow domestic industries to adjust. Red lines India has stuck to its red lines in the deal, making no concessions on agricultural items such as apples and walnuts or dairy products including cheese and whey. 'There is no question of opening up the agriculture or dairy sector in any trade negotiation — be it with the EU, Australia, or even the U.S.,' a senior Indian official said. India, US interim trade deal prospects dim ahead of tariff deadline, sources say The calibrated strategy aims to leverage trade for economic growth, the official said, but the government will continue to shield millions of Indians dependent upon subsistence farming and low-margin work. Indian farmers are eyeing broadened access to the UK's $37.5 billion agriculture market under the deal. And Indian exporters will benefit from zero tariffs on goods including textiles, footwear, gems, furniture, auto parts, machinery, and chemicals. 'With zero tariffs, India's garment exports to the UK could double in three years,' said N. Thirukkumaran, general secretary of the Tiruppur Exporters Association. 'This also paves the way for the EU agreement, which could bring even bigger gains,' he added. But the strategy could face a major test in negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, which has used the threat of steep tariffs to pressure trading partners into making concessions. Trade Minister Piyush Goyal told Reuters on Thursday that India is also hopeful of reaching a trade agreement with Washington that includes 'special and preferred treatment'. But the U.S. is pushing for greater access to India's agricultural and dairy markets.


Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Britain, Australia to deepen AUKUS commitment, economic ties
SYDNEY: Britain's commitment to Australia was 'absolute', Defence Secretary John Healey said on Friday as the two countries' defence and foreign ministers held talks in Sydney on boosting cooperation, including deepening their commitment to the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership. Healey and Britain's Foreign Minister David Lammy were met by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney, ahead of talks focussed on boosting trade ties and progressing the AUKUS partnership for Britain and Australia to build a new class of nuclear-powered submarine. The United States is reviewing the trilateral agreement struck in 2021, and has pressed Australia to increase defence spending to counter China's military build-up in the Indo Pacific region. Healey said on Friday that AUKUS is one of Britain's most important defence partnerships, and a treaty to be signed with Australia confirms Britain's commitment for the next half century. The new British-Australian treaty will underpin each country's submarine programmes for 50 years, creating tens of thousands of jobs, and is expected to be worth up to 20 billion pounds ($27 billion) to Britain in exports over the next 25 years, Britain's Ministry of Defence said. In opening remarks, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the two countries were working to shape collective security in the Indo-Pacific region. 'Our UK commitment to Australia is absolute,' Healey told the meeting. The two militaries were deepening ties amid increasing uncertainty and threats, he said. 'This demands a new era of defence, an era in which indivisibility of security in the Indo-Pacifc alongside the security of the Euro-Atlantic, in which the deep relationships like ours with you must be reconfirmed,' he added. Following the Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN), ministers are scheduled to travel to Melbourne and the northern garrison city of Darwin, where the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has arrived for the Talisman Sabre war games. Trump aware, supportive of AUKUS pact, US defense secretary says As many as 40,000 troops from 19 countries are taking part in the Talisman Sabre exercises held from July 13 to August 4, which Australia's military has said are a rehearsal of joint war fighting that contribute to stability in the Indo-Pacific. Britain has significantly increased its participation in the exercise co-hosted by Australia and the United States, with 3,000 troops taking part.


Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
UK, India ink trade deal
Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised Britain's "unique bonds" with India as he and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi formally signed a recently announced UK-India trade deal during talks on Thursday. Starmer hailed the agreement as a "landmark moment" for both countries as he hosted India's leader at his Chequers country estate, northwest of London. "This is not the extent or the limit of our collaboration with India," added the British premier, whose year-old government is struggling to fire up an economy weakened by years of stagnant growth and high inflation. "We have unique bonds of history, of family and of culture and we want to strengthen our relationship further, so that it is even more ambitious, modern and focused on the long term," he said.