Latest news with #Shapps
The Irish Sun
22-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Dad faces jail after handing sensitive information on ex-Tory MP to men he thought were Russian agents
A DAD of four who 'dreamed of being like James Bond' faces jail after being convicted of offering to spy for Russia. 3 Scheming Howard Phillips is seen dropping a USB stick containing information on Grant Shapps into a bike Credit: PA 3 Phillips gave details personal details belonging to former Defence Secretary Mr Shapps to undercover officers posing as Russian agents Credit: AFP 3 Dad of four Phillips, 65, who 'wanted to be like Bond', faces jail Credit: BPM The former insolvency worker, whose ex-wife told of his 007 fixation, was struggling financially after retiring. A court heard he thought it would be 'easy work for easy money' to provide agents 'Dima' and 'Sasha' with a USB stick containing personal details about his local MP. The authorities had launched an investigation after Phillips, who had applied to join the UK Border Force, made contact with Russia's embassy. He became 'deeply involved' with the undercover men, who spoke to him in fake Russian accents, promising '100 per cent loyalty' with 'no questions asked'. READ MORE UK NEWS He offered details on Mr Shapps, who he had met at a synagogue, and was nicked after handing the USB stick to 'Sasha' for £1,000 in April 2024. Phillips, of Harlow, Essex — who claimed his aim was to 'expose' a Jocelyn Ledward KC, prosecuting, told the court that it is possible Shapps will provide a victim impact statement which would be read out at Phillips's sentencing. Phillips shook his head just before being led down to the cells, and appeared to mouth the words 'can't believe it'. Most read in The Sun He will be sentenced later. Inside Ukraine's shadowy spy warfare wiping out Putin's war machine with special ops strikes
Scottish Sun
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Dad faces jail after handing sensitive information on ex-Tory MP to men he thought were Russian agents
RUSSIA SPY PLOT Dad faces jail after handing sensitive information on ex-Tory MP to men he thought were Russian agents Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A DAD of four who 'dreamed of being like James Bond' faces jail after being convicted of offering to spy for Russia. Scheming Howard Phillips, 65, gave personal details on then-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps to two undercover British officers. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Scheming Howard Phillips is seen dropping a USB stick containing information on Grant Shapps into a bike Credit: PA 3 Phillips gave details personal details belonging to former Defence Secretary Mr Shapps to undercover officers posing as Russian agents Credit: AFP 3 Dad of four Phillips, 65, who 'wanted to be like Bond', faces jail Credit: BPM The former insolvency worker, whose ex-wife told of his 007 fixation, was struggling financially after retiring. A court heard he thought it would be 'easy work for easy money' to provide agents 'Dima' and 'Sasha' with a USB stick containing personal details about his local MP. The authorities had launched an investigation after Phillips, who had applied to join the UK Border Force, made contact with Russia's embassy. He became 'deeply involved' with the undercover men, who spoke to him in fake Russian accents, promising '100 per cent loyalty' with 'no questions asked'. He offered details on Mr Shapps, who he had met at a synagogue, and was nicked after handing the USB stick to 'Sasha' for £1,000 in April 2024. Phillips, of Harlow, Essex — who claimed his aim was to 'expose' a Russian agent — was convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service at Winchester crown court. Jocelyn Ledward KC, prosecuting, told the court that it is possible Shapps will provide a victim impact statement which would be read out at Phillips's sentencing. Phillips shook his head just before being led down to the cells, and appeared to mouth the words 'can't believe it'. He will be sentenced later.
Spectator
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Shapps accused of trying to ‘rewrite history' over MoD leak
To the Ministry of Defence leak, which has created a flurry of news this week after journalists were eventually allowed to report on the scandal following the lifting of a super-injunction on Tuesday. A number of politicians have found themselves in the firing line over the issue, with former defence secretary Grant Shapps the latest to be criticised. After the ex-Tory MP told the BBC's Today programme that he was 'surprised [the super-injunction] lasted quite so long', a Whitehall source remarked to the Times that the politician was 'trying to rewrite history', adding: 'Everyone knows he was the one personally demanding to keep the super-injunction in place after the election was called last summer.' Shots fired! The order, which prevented the British public from discovering a soldier has leaked a list of 33,000 Afghan applications for sanctuary in the UK, was upgraded the then-government's request for an injunction over the matter to a super-injunction. The change meant that no one would be aware that the order even existed, in the first time a government had used this mechanism. Shapps – who became the Conservative defence secretary in September 2023 – told the Beeb this morning that: My expectation was, as the risks start to lessen over time and people are removed from Afghanistan and measures are taken to protect the Brits on the list… I'd thought that it was probably going to come to an end last summer, the autumn perhaps at maximum. Yet it transpires that it was Shapps himself who had appealed against a decision to lift the super-injunction as the 2024 election approached – while the UK media opposed the order. In May 2024, a judge lifted the order, remarking that: 'The one thing that can be said with confidence is that affected persons would be better off learning of the data breach by notification from the UK government than from a knock on the door by the Taliban.' However the Ministry of Defence appealed the decision and the Court of Appeal ruled just days before last July's national poll that the super-injunction should stay in place. Shapps isn't the first former Conservative that has been hauled into the limelight over the scandal. Reform UK has taken aim at shadow justice secretary and onetime Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick. And former Conservative home secretary Suella Braverman hasn't managed to escape scrutiny – with her husband Rael quitting the party after head of DOGE, Zia Yusuf, attacked his wife. Mr S is sure Nigel Farage's lot are just getting started…
The National
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Grant Shapps defends Afghan data breach superinjunction
The former defence secretary said lifting the superinjunction, which was imposed while he was in post, may have endangered the lives of those whose personal information was released 'in error' in February 2022. FORMER UK defence secretary Grant Shapps has defended his decision to keep an unprecedented legal gagging order in place over the Afghan data leak under the previous government, saying he would 'walk over hot coals to save those lives'. The details of more than 100 Britons, including those working as spies and in special forces, were included in the massive data breach that resulted in thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK. Defence sources have said information relating to personnel was included in the spreadsheet after they had endorsed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the country. READ MORE: Brian Leishman: 'Anas Sarwar hasn't spoken to me in 6 months' Shapps had remained silent on the role he played in the aftermath as several Tory ex-ministers sought to distance themselves from the handling of the breach in recent days. But speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday, the ex-MP for Welwyn Hatfield said his focus had been on 'sorting out the mess and saving lives'. An injunction over the breach was sought by Shapps's predecessor Ben Wallace, and a wider-ranging superinjunction, which prohibits disclosure not just of the information but of the order itself, was granted when Sir Grant was in office. 'The judge himself decided it should be a superinjunction,' he said. 'And it is the case that I thought that once the superinjunction was in place, it should remain as a superinjunction.' This was to err 'on the side of extreme caution,' he said, adding: 'I'd much rather now be in this interview explaining why a superinjunction was required, than being in this interview explaining why I failed to act and people were murdered.' The former minister said: 'I would do the same thing all over again. I would walk over hot coals to save those lives.' Asked whether he supported calls from the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) for the publication of an intelligence assessment which formed the basis of the superinjunction, he said: 'Yes, I would.' He added that he knew the committee 'won't like' the fact that the incident had been kept secret but 'it was just so sensitive that if anything had got out at all, it would put those lives at risk.' Despite having kept the order in place during his tenure as defence secretary, which lasted just under a year, Shapps said he was 'surprised' it had remained for 'so long.' 'I don't think it should have carried on as long as it had. I'm surprised that it has. Those questions are for others,' he said. 'But I came in, the problem was there, I dealt with it, and as a result I think that we saved lives.' Lord Beamish said the ISC was not informed of the breach, despite the names of more than 100 Britons being divulged – including spies and SAS operators. 'You've got to understand how our committee got its powers in the first place,' he said. Meanwhile, the chairman of the ISC said the previous government had ignored the usual process whereby the committee is able to see the information to ensure there was scrutiny and 'go down the legal route'. 'I think there are serious constitutional issues here,' Lord Beamish told BBC Radio Scotland. The initial breach saw a dataset of 18,714 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme released by an official who emailed a file outside authorised government systems. Defence sources have said that details of MI6 spies, SAS and special forces personnel were included in the spreadsheet, after they had endorsed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the UK. The Ministry of Defence became aware of the blunder only when excerpts from the dataset were posted anonymously on a Facebook group in August 2023, and a superinjunction was granted at the High Court in an attempt to prevent the Taliban from finding out about the leak. READ MORE: Donald Trump to visit Scotland next week in 2 locations The leak also led to the creation of the secret Afghanistan Response Route, which is understood to have cost about £400 million so far, with a projected final cost of about £850m. A total of about 6900 people are expected to be relocated by the end of the scheme. The official responsible for the email error was moved to a new role but not sacked. The superinjunction was in place for almost two years, covering Labour and Conservative governments. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has apologised on behalf of the Conservatives for the leak, telling LBC: 'On behalf of the government and on behalf of the British people, yes, because somebody made a terrible mistake and names were put out there … and we are sorry for that.' Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said he and former home secretary Suella Braverman had 'strongly opposed' plans for the Afghan Response Route in 'internal meetings'. But former armed forces minister James Heappey, himself an ex-army officer who served in Afghanistan, said ministerial colleagues offered no 'fierce opposition' to the relocation scheme. Former veterans minister Johnny Mercer claimed he had 'receipts' regarding the previous government's actions in relation to Kabul, and has described the handling of the breach as 'farcical'. Wallace has said he makes 'no apology' for applying for the initial injunction because the decision was motivated by the need to protect people in Afghanistan whose safety was at risk.
Daily Mirror
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Top Tory Grant Shapps claims Afghan data breach kept secret over risk of executions
In his first comments since news of an unprecedented superinjunction was made public, the ex-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said his focus was on 'sorting out the mess and saving lives' Senior Tory Grant Shaps has defended the decision to keep MPs and the public in the dark over a massive Afghan data leak - claiming it risked people being executed. In his first comments since news of an unprecedented superinjunction was released, the ex-Defence Secretary said his focus was on "sorting out the mess and saving lives". Mr Shapps insisted he would "do the same thing all over again", adding he would "walk over hot coals" in order to stop people being murdered. Details of almost 19,000 people seeking to flee from the Taliban after the fall of Kabul were released in 2022 in error by a Ministry of Defence (MOD) official. It led to a secret £850million relocation scheme being set up to bring people to safety. Yesterday it emerged that as many as 100 UK special forces and MI6 spies were also mentioned in the massive data breach along with almost 20,000 names of Afghans. Labour's Defence Secretary John Healey offered in the Commons on Tuesday a 'sincere apology' to all of those Afghans whose lives were put in jeopardy. Mr Shapps, who was in post while a superinjunction was imposed on the incident, suggested he believed it should remain in place because he thought there was a risk of those named being murdered if it did not. The injunction was sought by Mr Shapps' predecessor, Ben Wallace, and a superinjunction was instead put in place by a judge when Mr Shapps took over the brief. "It is the case that I thought that once the superinjunction was in place, it should remain as a superinjunction," he said. Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The problem with this list and all of the uncertainty surrounding it, and one of the reasons why I haven't come out in the initial couple days of this to speak about it was that obviously, with the new information that's now been released about the fact that there were British Special Forces and secret services on that list, it seemed to me that if there was any doubt at all, that erring on the side of extreme caution, a superinjunction meant that that was entirely justified." He added: "And I'll tell you what, anybody sat behind the desk that I was sat in as Defence Secretary and faced with the choice of whether that list would get out and people would be pursued, murdered and executed as a result of it. "Or doing something to try and save those lives, I'd much rather now be in this interview explaining why a superinjunction was required, than being in this interview explaining why I failed to act and people were murdered." Told Parliament was not able to scrutinise the decision - including MPs on the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC)- Mr Shapps said the risks were "incredibly high". He added: "In the end the number one priority is to make sure we protected lives and people weren't murdered. It was a pretty stark decision to make." But the chairman of the ISC said on Friday there are "serious constitutional issues" raised by the Afghan data leak. Lord Beamish said the ISC was not informed of the breach, despite the names of more than 100 Britons being divulged - including spies and SAS operators. He said: "You've got to understand how our committee got its powers in the first place. "The Justice and Security Act 2013 introduced closed hearings into court for intelligence cases - the quid pro quo for that was to give the ISC the power to reassure, to be able to see the information legally, to reassure the public and Parliament that there was public scrutiny of the security services. "Someone in government chose just to ignore that and go down the legal route, so I think there are serious constitutional issues here." Earlier this week Keir Starmer said former Tory ministers had "serious questions to answer about how this was ever allowed to happen".
