6 days ago
Navy chief's role in Afghan leak was covered up
Downing Street blocked news reports that the head of the Royal Navy was involved in the Afghan leak fiasco in the same week his promotion to the role was announced, it has emerged.
Government lawyers told journalists they could not reveal that Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins, now First Sea Lord, was at the heart of a 'national security incident', even if no details about a super-injunction were reported.
Gen Sir Gwyn has found himself at the centre of a row over the scandal, in which the details of 25,000 Afghans who applied to be resettled in Britain were leaked.
The incident, in February 2022, went undiscovered in Whitehall for 18 months before ministers created a bespoke new evacuation programme for Afghans on the list.
The existence of the leak and airlift of thousands of people who helped British forces during the war in Afghanistan was only revealed on Tuesday after a court lifted a super-injunction barring the press from reporting it.
It was also revealed that the data was accidentally leaked by a Royal Marine who was working under the command of Gen Sir Gwyn, then the director of Special Forces.
After the incident took place, Gen Sir Gwyn was announced as the next UK National Security Adviser, although that promotion was cancelled by Sir Keir Starmer after the general election.
The Labour Prime Minister instead promoted him to First Sea Lord, the most senior position in the Navy.
It has now been reported that on the week that his promotion was due to be announced, Downing Street was contacted by reporters from The Times, who planned to write a story about his involvement in a ' national security incident '.
The newspaper said it did not plan to break the terms of the super-injunction and would not reveal any details about the data leak, which had been banned to protect the Afghans on the list from reprisals by the Taliban.
But government lawyers said any reference to an incident and Gen Sir Gwyn's involvement would constitute a breach of the injunction, and could result in reporters being sent to jail.
The revelation has piled pressure on the Government, which had already been urged to 'come clean' about why it did not lift the super-injunction sooner.
'Outstanding military officer'
Although Gen Sir Gwyn was running the team where the leak originated, ministers have fiercely defended him.
John Healey, the Defence Secretary, said he was an 'outstanding military officer' and that 'we need someone like him to lead the Royal Navy through these challenging periods'.
A Downing Street spokesman reiterated on Wednesday that the officer had 'no role in any aspect of [Afghan resettlement schemes], including decision-making'.
But ministers are under pressure to demonstrate that there have been consequences for the leak, and Gen Sir Gwyn is the only senior member of the Armed Forces who has been named in connection with it.
The leaked email was sent by a Royal Marine, who was in charge of vetting asylum seekers, to a group of Afghan contacts in the UK whom they trusted.
The soldier worked out of the Regent's Park Barracks in central London under the command of Gen Sir Gwyn.
Downing Street has refused to say whether the individual responsible has been sacked.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said she believed Gen Sir Gwyn and her former colleagues in the Conservative government should be questioned in Parliament over the super-injunction fiasco, if they were called up.
The Commons defence committee, as well as the intelligence and security committee, are both expected to launch inquiries into the leak.
'I think it's fair to say that if the defence select committee wants to look into this, then people should appear in front of it,' Mrs Badenoch 's spokesman said. They added that Gen Sir Gwyn should co-operate with any inquiry.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman would not comment on whether the First Sea Lord would appear before a committee, but indicated that a ban on some government employees appearing before MPs would not apply to military officials.
Sir Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary who applied for the injunction, said he would make 'no apology' for his role in the debacle. He is expected to be called before any inquiry into the leak.
Tan Dhesi, the Labour MP and chairman of the defence committee, said: 'Rigorous safeguards must be in place to ensure that this cannot happen again. It's shameful that brave Afghans who served alongside British soldiers have had their safety jeopardised by this leak.
'While our defence committee has agreed to inquire into this shocking situation, we have yet to determine the full scope for that, including who will be called to give evidence.'
