Latest news with #LordBeamish
Yahoo
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Auto-enrolling young people on voting register being explored
Young people could be automatically enrolled on the voting register under plans being explored by the Government, a minister has told Parliament. Labour former minister Lord Beamish argued 'the only way we're going to get young people and other people on the registry is auto-enrolment'. Responding, communities minister Lord Khan of Burnley said the Government will 'take steps to move towards' this, but added that electoral law is 'complicated'. 'We intend to actively explore and test new and more automated methods of registration, including better use of data to identify people who are eligible, and integration with other Government services to make it easier for people to register,' he had earlier told the upper chamber. The minister also revealed the Government is 'looking at' placing 16 and 17-year-olds on the electoral register at the same time they are given their national insurance numbers. This came in response to Liberal Democrat peer Lord Rennard, who said: 'Will the Government now implement the unanimous cross-party recommendation of the House of Lords select committee and automatically include 16 and 17-year-olds on the electoral registers at the same time as they are given their national insurance numbers?' Lord Khan replied: 'This is a major change in the electoral franchise, and we need to get it right. Changes to the electoral law of this magnitude require careful planning and should not be rushed. 'On the question in relation to national insurance, we are looking at different options for ensuring young people can be easily and accurately registered to vote, and ways to enable people to register when they interact with other government services. 'So the (Lord Rennard) keeps pushing. I'm going to give (Lord Rennard) good news … to say we are looking at that as well.' Plaid Cymru peer Baroness Smith of Llanfaes called for a national register to vote day for schools. She said: 'Will this Government consider a national register to vote day for schools, where young people are encouraged to register to vote online in their registration classes?' Lord Khan said this was 'a very strong point, and I will take that away'. He added: 'We'll take all measures to ensure that we can (to) make sure people can participate comfortably and positively.'
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Afghan data leak inquiry to be conducted by Parliament's security watchdog
An inquiry into the Afghan data leak that led to an unprecedented legal gagging order and an £850 million secret relocation scheme is set to be carried out by Parliament's intelligence watchdog. Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC), said the cross-party group would launch a probe after considering defence assessment documents related to the case. The peer has previously voiced concern over 'serious constitutional issues' raised by the handling of the breach that saw the details of 18,714 applicants for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme released in 2022. The leak prompted an unprecedented superinjunction amid fears the Taliban could target would-be refugees for reprisals, meaning the ISC, which routinely reviews sensitive material, was not briefed. It also saw the establishment of a secret scheme, the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR), to bring some of those affected to the UK at a projected final cost of about £850 million. In a statement on Monday, Lord Beamish said the committee 'has agreed that, once it has considered the requested material, it will conduct an inquiry into the intelligence community's role and activity in connection with the loss of data relating to Arap applicants in February 2022'. The Ministry of Defence said it had been instructed by Defence Secretary John Healey to give 'its full support' to the committee. The ISC, which is made up of MPs and peers, had asked for the release of defence assessments that formed the basis of the superinjunction, as well as other material relating to the Arap scheme. It hard argued that under the Justice and Security Act 2013, classification of material is not grounds on which information can be withheld from the committee, given its purpose is to scrutinise the work of the UK intelligence community. Thousands of Afghans included on the list of people trying to flee the Taliban are unlikely to receive compensation after their details were accidentally leaked. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Government would 'robustly defend' any legal action or bid for compensation, adding these were 'hypothetical claims'. It has also been reported that the MoD will not proactively offer compensation to those affected. In total, the Government expects 6,900 people to be brought to the UK under the ARR scheme, which was introduced under the previous Tory administration after a defence official leaked the data 'in error' in February 2022. Along with the Afghan nationals, the breach saw details of more than 100 British officials compromised, including special forces and MI6 personnel. An MoD spokesman said: 'The Government strongly welcomes the Intelligence and Security Committee's scrutiny of the Afghan data incident. 'We recognise the urgent need to understand how these significant failures happened and ensure there's proper accountability for the previous government's handling of this matter. 'The Ministry of Defence has been instructed by the Defence Secretary to give its full support to the ISC and all parliamentary committees. If incumbent ministers and officials are asked to account and give evidence, they will. 'We have restored proper parliamentary accountability and scrutiny for the decisions that the department takes and the spending that we commit on behalf of the taxpayer.'
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Security committee launches inquiry into Afghan data leak
Parliament's intelligence watchdog has announced it will launch an inquiry into a major data breach which compromised the identities of thousands of Afghans and British military officials. The data leak prompted a super-injunction which meant the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), which routinely reviews sensitive material, was not briefed until last Lord Beamish said all intelligence documents related to the case should be provided "immediately" for peer had previously voiced concern over "serious constitutional issues" raised by the handling of the breach, which went undiscovered for more than a year before the gagging order was requested. The ISC oversees the work of MI5, MI6 and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).In a statement on Monday, Lord Beamish said the cross-party group would "conduct an inquiry into the intelligence community's role and activity in connection with the loss of data" after considering defence assessments related to the ISC has argued that - under the Justice and Security Act 2013 - classification of material is not grounds on which information can be withheld from the committee, given its purpose is to scrutinise the work of the UK intelligence leak was made in February 2022 by someone working at UK Special Forces headquarters in London, who inadvertently emailed a spreadsheet containing more than 30,000 resettlement applications to an individual outside of government, thinking that he was sending data on just 150 data breach was only identified in August 2023, when a man in Afghanistan made a Facebook post identifying nine individuals and indicated he could release the rest, in a sequence of events that government sources said was "essentially blackmail". The Ministry of Defence applied for a gagging order in September 2023, due to the risk of reprisals from the Taliban against nearly 19,000 Afghans who were revealed to have worked with British forces in High Court put a highly-restrictive super-injunction in place, meaning even the existence of the gagging order could not be reported until a judge lifted the order last discovery of the data breach forced the government to covertly set up the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) to bring some 7,000 of those affected to the UK at a projected final cost of about £850m.A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the government would "robustly defend" any legal action or bid for compensation, adding these were "hypothetical claims".It has also been reported that the MoD will not proactively offer compensation to those affected. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to read top political analysis, gain insight from across the UK and stay up to speed with the big moments. It'll be delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Inquiry into Afghan data leak to be conducted by Parliament's security watchdog
An inquiry into the Afghan data leak that led to an unprecedented legal gagging order and an £850 million secret relocation scheme is set to be carried out by Parliament's intelligence watchdog. Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC), said the cross-party group would launch a probe after considering defence assessment documents related to the case. The peer has previously voiced concern over 'serious constitutional issues' raised by the handling of the breach that saw the details of 18,714 applicants for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme released in 2022. The leak prompted an unprecedented superinjunction amid fears the Taliban could target would-be refugees for reprisals, meaning the ISC, which routinely reviews sensitive material, was not briefed. It also saw the establishment of a secret scheme, the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR), to bring some of those affected to the UK at a projected final cost of about £850 million. In a statement on Monday, Lord Beamish said the committee 'has agreed that, once it has considered the requested material, it will conduct an inquiry into the intelligence community's role and activity in connection with the loss of data relating to Arap applicants in February 2022'. The ISC, which is made up of MPs and members of the House of Lords, had asked for the release of defence assessments that formed the basis of the superinjunction, as well as other material relating to the Arap scheme. It hard argued that under the Justice and Security Act 2013, classification of material is not grounds on which information can be withheld from the committee, given its purpose is to scrutinise the work of the UK intelligence community. Thousands of Afghans included on the list of people trying to flee the Taliban are unlikely to receive compensation after their details were accidentally leaked. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Government would 'robustly defend' any legal action or bid for compensation, adding these were 'hypothetical claims'. It has also been reported that the MoD will not proactively offer compensation to those affected. In total, the Government expects 6,900 people to be brought to the UK under the ARR scheme, which was introduced under the previous Tory administration after a defence official leaked the data 'in error' in February 2022. Along with the Afghan nationals, the breach saw details of more than 100 British officials compromised, including special forces and MI6 personnel.
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Inquiry into Afghan data leak to be conducted by Parliament's security watchdog
An inquiry into the Afghan data leak that led to an unprecedented legal gagging order and an £850 million secret relocation scheme is set to be carried out by Parliament's intelligence watchdog. Lord Beamish, chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC), said the cross-party group would launch a probe after considering defence assessment documents related to the case. The peer has previously voiced concern over 'serious constitutional issues' raised by the handling of the breach that saw the details of 18,714 applicants for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme released in 2022. The leak prompted an unprecedented superinjunction amid fears the Taliban could target would-be refugees for reprisals, meaning the ISC, which routinely reviews sensitive material, was not briefed. It also saw the establishment of a secret scheme, the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR), to bring some of those affected to the UK at a projected final cost of about £850 million. In a statement on Monday, Lord Beamish said the committee 'has agreed that, once it has considered the requested material, it will conduct an inquiry into the intelligence community's role and activity in connection with the loss of data relating to Arap applicants in February 2022'. The ISC, which is made up of MPs and members of the House of Lords, had asked for the release of defence assessments that formed the basis of the superinjunction, as well as other material relating to the Arap scheme. It hard argued that under the Justice and Security Act 2013, classification of material is not grounds on which information can be withheld from the committee, given its purpose is to scrutinise the work of the UK intelligence community. Thousands of Afghans included on the list of people trying to flee the Taliban are unlikely to receive compensation after their details were accidentally leaked. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Government would 'robustly defend' any legal action or bid for compensation, adding these were 'hypothetical claims'. It has also been reported that the MoD will not proactively offer compensation to those affected. In total, the Government expects 6,900 people to be brought to the UK under the ARR scheme, which was introduced under the previous Tory administration after a defence official leaked the data 'in error' in February 2022. Along with the Afghan nationals, the breach saw details of more than 100 British officials compromised, including special forces and MI6 personnel. The Government has been contacted for comment.
