Tory ex-ministers reportedly tried to stop 24,000 Afghans being housed in the UK after a data breach released details of people trying to flee Kabul.
Then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman reportedly raised concerns about the scheme (Image: Getty)
Top Conservative officials tried to stop an £850m plan to relocate thousands of Afghans to the UK after a major data breach, according to reports. Government departments including the Treasury and Home Office reportedly raised concerns over the scheme, which was kept secret following a breach which saw details released of nearly 19,000 people trying to flee Kabul. It remained under wraps as the result of a superinjunction imposed in 2023, which was only lifted by the High Court on Tuesday.
Sources said the plan, nicknamed ‘Operation Rubific’, caused major division within the Tory administration, but was ultimately pushed through after defence ministers resorted to “emotional blackmail”. Then-foreign secretary James Cleverly and then-home secretary Suella Braverman were among the figures opposed to the scheme, it has been suggested, with the latter engaging in “serious arguments” with the Ministry of Defence on security grounds.
MoD officials reportedly used ’emotional blackmail’ to push the scheme through (Image: Getty)
“Suella basically told the MoD that if they wanted to bring people here, they would have to house them in empty barracks on MoD land,” a source told The Telegraph.
In a statement posted to X on Wednesday, Mrs Braverman said: “In all this disgraceful betrayal of the people by their own Government, I feel only shame. I, and a handful of others, fought this, but we failed to stop it.”
Mr Cleverly, meanwhile, warned that the measures were untenable because of the high number of people involved, and then-chief secretary to the Treasury, Laura Trott, also warned of the amount of taxpayer money being spent on the scheme.
Ministers were reportedly told that if all 18,714 people on the list were granted asylum, the number of people being housed in the UK could total more than 100,000 once family members had been taken into account.
‘Operation Rubific’ is understood to have cost around £400 million so far, with a projected total cost of £850 million.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer said there would be scrutiny of the decision, telling MPs: “Ministers who served under the party opposite have serious questions to answer about how this was ever allowed to happen.”
The dataset of 18,714 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme was released in February 2022 after a Government official emailed a file outside authorised systems.
The MoD only became aware of the error when parts of the dataset were posted anonymously in a Facebook group in August 2023 and the High Court ordered a superinjunction to prevent the Taliban from learning of the leak.
It led to the creation of the Afghanistan Response Route, in April 2024 – a secret scheme designed to protect Afghans whose safety was perceived to be at risk.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has apologised on behalf of her party for the leak, telling LBC: “Somebody made a terrible mistake and names were put out there … and we are sorry for that.”
