Public sentiment is overwhelmingly negative towards the UK government's handling of the Afghan data breach, characterized by anger over safety risks to Afghan allies, frustration with governmental incompetence, and concerns about financial implications. Many commenters express a lack of trust in the government’s ability to manage sensitive information and address the needs of those who supported British military efforts, alongside skepticism regarding immigration policies.

UK Government

Political Parties

British Public

The human cost is potentially very high because the likes of the Taliban would hunt down and kill those whose details were leaked.

The domestic political cost for the Conservatives doesn't really matter at this point because most people already have a very low opinion of them.

Labour is bizarrely getting shit for it despite having inherited the situation and being bound by the injunction not to talk about it until the judge decided should be lifted.

The situation isn't helped by large amounts of disinformation in the media and from the usual suspects.

[deleted]

We promised to bring home those that helped us in Afghanistan. It was never a secret we’d keep our promise to them, only their names and addresses. It’ll be bad in the short term but if there were going to be riots or assassinations I think they’d already be happening.

SixRoundsTilDeath

Bad, real bad. Imagine you're on the run, or in hiding from a government, that would kill you just for shits and giggles and then someone in the government meant to protect you, just leaked all of your information to the internet. Everything, your family, friends, where they live, work, all of their data. Now x that by a hundred.

PackageOk4947

I can't work out why the Tories are even getting attacked. If you have a data leak like this the most important thing is to make sure the Taliban don't know about said leak. I can't think of a better reason for a super injunction. 


I think Labour have behaved horrendously with this. They have essentially abandoned the Afghans and just sent them a letter as if they leaked their data of birth.

Throwitaway701

It's the Tories fault , there you go saved you all the bother.

Tight-Ad

Story doing the rounds now is that the Taliban have had the list since it was leaked a few years ago, and haven't acted on it at *all*. So, if *they* don't care, why should *we*? Also, we apparently only had the help of 1000 Afghan soldiers, who were all denied entry into the UK, so just who the hell *are* the 24000 they've let in (so far)? 

But, most importantly, why was a super-injunction slapped onto the media (they weren't even allowed to report on the fact that they weren't allowed to report)? Why did the government hide a) the leak and b) the fact that they were flying thousands of people in from the public who are paying a total of £7bil for the privilege?

MDK1980

The government distributed tens of thousands of foreign nationals across the country, with a 7bn slush fund to finance it. While keeping it entirely secret and without democratic debate.

OkRisk5027

I think this will finish Labour off the way Boriswave and Brexit has for the Tories. What happens after Reform is anyone's guess. More managed decline.

Dnny10bns

Are we calling this civilian oversight or retirement planning?

vikingraider47

Another national embarrassment, it’s like we’re being led by masochists

hubmeme

The Army expression for this sort of mistake is "an abortion".

In this case I don't think that's understating things.

McLeod3577

The financial implications to the taxpayer is high as each person is reported to be given in excess of £1million. That money will come from somewhere and inevitably the British taxpayer will foot the bill. We should be looking after our people first, the indigenous Britain.

Political fall out or fallout of the data breach ?

Political fall out is a massive blow to the Tories and to Labour (before you start crying that Labour werent responsible they continued the coverup long after a high court judge ruled it be overturned and long after any action to prevent life could be taken. The breach occured in Feb 2022 and was found in August 2023)

Data breach wise there is a possibility that some people lost their life but finding those stats will be impossible due to the fact that Afghanistan is not a digital country it won't have digital records. In addition the Taliban are trying to normalise relations with other countries with them as the leaders of Afghanistan they have been actively promoting tourism and killing a few collaborators would just set them back in their goals. There will probably be some on that list that they didnt know about likely informers within the taliban itself. Besides i'm sure they killed all the main people they wanted to when they came to power killing some insignificant interpreter just doesn't align with their goals and as i say all the main and important ones would of been known to them.

In my view this is another case of the cover-up being worse than the crime. The situation is only going to get worse politically. Bearing in mind the data was leaked for a full year and shared on facebook before the MOD "discovered" it. In addition to that the data was leaked directly to Afghan contacts so if it was going to endup in the Talibans hands it would have well within the year before the MOD discovered it.

  
All around a massive disaster that could of been prevented with a simple function within the MODs emailing system.

Consistent-Towel5763

Oh to be a fly on the wall in that persons one to one…

Mrz1267

It was a Royal Marine working with some senior military type who sent the spreadsheet inadvertently, not a civil servant?

scintillatingemerald

How are you guys feeling about the superinjunction/press this is getting? It feels to me that the press are putting all these people in extra unnecessary danger by shining a spotlight on this.

Or is the harm already done?

AnonymousTimewaster

I saw the it’s ‘just one of many data losses’ what the hell is going on over there?

AnxiousAudience82

**Participation Notice.** Hi all. Some posts on this subreddit, either due to the topic or reaching a wider audience than usual, have been known to attract a greater number of rule breaking comments. As such, limits to participation were set at 18:42 on 19/07/2025. We ask that you please remember the human, and uphold Reddit and Subreddit rules.

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In case the article is paywalled, use [this link](https://archive.is/?run=1&amp;url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20pd5035vyo).

ukbot-nicolabot

How about no one gets compensation this shot happens all the time and no one gets anything.

haphazard_chore

At this stage its probably cheaper to start a war against the taliban than fund the 100,000 Afghans that supported us

takesthebiscuit

Snapshot of _Afghan migrant brought 22 relatives to UK after data breach_ :

An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&amp;url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/18/afghan-migrant-brought-22-relatives-to-uk-after-data-breach/)  or [here.](https://archive.ph/?run=1&amp;url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/18/afghan-migrant-brought-22-relatives-to-uk-after-data-breach/)         


*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ukpolitics) if you have any questions or concerns.*

AutoModerator

According to FT

&gt; The cost estimate of £150,000 per person for three years was revealed in the context of the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP)

£3.45million for this family in just three years. Lifetime cost? god help us

£1.15m per yr

So about 35 taxpayers on £100k would be needed to cover just this cost per year.

We have brought about 40k Afghans over in total. The lifetime cost is going to be in the tens of billions, i'd say based on them &amp; dependents having 50yrs left on avg (cos plenty of kids arrived) £600k per person minimum on conservative side.

Pikaea

I’m self aware enough to admit I am becoming increasingly radicalised on this issue 

What are we playing at lol. These people are deadweight.

WGSMA

Do you want a rise in extremism? Because this is how you get it. A British family cannot afford child care and are trammelled by the two child benefit cap but here is a random nobody from a culture inherently misogynistic and he brings 22 people. Never paid a single pound into the system while you work to pay for him!

Do you want civil unrest? Because this unfairness is radicalising and your “We have to be altruistic and empathetic” just isn’t cutting it anymore.

VelvetDreamers

Its a complete free for all where tax payer money is no object so don't expect anyone in charge to ask any questions or put down any restrictions.

The chap who caused this leak and the £7bn cost - which is the entire employee tax contribution of all Leeds and Manchester workers put together in a year is still working for the MoD.

Meanwhile, the government is happily boasting about the fact asylum hotel bills have dropped by 30%.

What they're not telling you is that they're spending even more money putting them into the private rental market and HMOs via Serco who are offering landlords lucrative deals that may tempt some to turf out their existing renters by implementing a Section 21 no fault eviction notice that Labour themselves promised to eliminate when they came into power.

Anyone who privately rents is therefore pretty screwed.

Oh well. Let's just keep calm and carry on.

xParesh

Forget retiring at 65. This is going to cost us big time — taxpayers will be on the hook for decades to support these people. I expect many won’t get a retirement.

GreatBritishHedgehog

"The term 'family member' does not have any fixed meaning in law or in common usage. Indeed, the word 'family' may mean different things to different people and in different contexts. There may be cultural considerations. There is no requirement for a blood or legal connection."

So basically if your mates mum wants to come here, no worries

iron81

Im jumping through hoops, paying thousands for my wifes spouse visa. Meanwhile these people get benefits as soon as they land. 

ZealousidealYoung286

&gt;Her ruling stated: “The term ‘family member’ does not have any fixed meaning in law or in common usage. Indeed, the word ‘family’ may mean different things to different people and in different contexts. There may be cultural considerations … there is no requirement for a blood or legal connection.”

So not relatives. A Brit has to jump through a million expensive hoops to bring their husband or wife over but random  Afghans can bring over whoever he considers family even if there's no blood or legal relation. What a joke.

Scratch_Careful

We are going to collapse under the weight of all this. We are paying for Empire, then the cost of defeating the Nazis and now the war on terror. All the while our aging population rightly or wrongly are kicking up over any cut to their wealth. Good luck everyone the next few years will be volatile.

Chopstick84

The article is horrifying. Read the following and I just think our courts are full of traitors who hate us

*Defence ministers had wanted to restrict arrivals to married couples and their children, but UK courts repeatedly expanded the eligibility criteria, citing the European Convention on Human Rights.*

*There was a dramatic change in the criteria last November, when High Court judge Mrs Justice Yip ruled, in a case brought against the Foreign Office by an Afghan already living in the UK, that family members did not have to have a blood or legal connection to the applicant.*

*Her ruling stated: “The term ‘family member’ does not have any fixed meaning in law or in common usage. Indeed, the word ‘family’ may mean different things to different people and in different contexts. There may be cultural considerations … there is no requirement for a blood or legal connection.*


So what the fuck does family mean, nothing. Literally grab a few people you know and they are your family

Glum-Mortgage-5860

It’s literally over lmao. Our liberal democracies cannot cope with existential threats.

OwnLow6100

&gt; Her ruling stated: “The term ‘family member’ does not have any fixed meaning in law or in common usage. Indeed, the word ‘family’ may mean different things to different people and in different contexts. There may be cultural considerations … there is no requirement for a blood or legal connection.”

Yeah I struggle to know what to say to this. It’s like we bend over backwards to find any reason to say yes. Surely we could just say that we’re only counting family as per our own definition.

Spursfan14

So the UK government leaked the identity of the Afghanistan helpers - 

The taliban would go after the collaborators and their extended family- 

So we offer them safe refuge here to start again.

The British (tory) government f*cked up not the Afghanistan refugees

Queasy-Competition45

This country is actually completely cooked. We were going to have a serious issue just with our own aging population and being able to afford to pay to support them. Now you've got young people born in the UK who get no support at all and have pretty much no chance of getting a house, go to university and rack up debt for a degree which they've been told will let them get a job which it won't, they'll be told it's their job to pay for the elderly and now countless immigrants who are just given housing and money for existing.

The UK government is creating a pressure cooker and it's going to be violent and result in innocent people getting hurt. The handling of immigration in this country over the last two decades has been a disaster. This level of immigration and financial support for immigrants was not sustainable 10 years ago and now what the fuck are they supposed to do? Remove financial support and housing so there's 100,000's of uneducated immigrants homeless on the streets with a completely different world view? Absolute disaster. The UK government needs to be in a state of panic and make serious changes or it's completely over. I have a feeling we are going to have to get bailed out by another country in the next 5 years but if Reform gets in I only see America entertaining that and there is no way they give us a favorable deal. Farage already said he would import America produce and drop our food standards to that of America, which is one of the lowest food safety standards in the world.

Greyrandir

&gt; Her ruling stated: “The term ‘family member’ does not have any fixed meaning in law or in common usage. Indeed, the word ‘family’ may mean different things to different people and in different contexts. There may be cultural considerations … there is no requirement for a blood or legal connection.”

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? It's our legal system?????? Why are we not using OUR definition for the word family?? So because someone in a different continent believes family can mean 'anyone' then we have to accept that? The worst thing in this country is it's legal system by far, it's a fucking joke. Pedos, murderers, rapists barely get a sentence but we're putting mean people who post stuff online in prison and don't you dare commit tax fraud or you're in jail for 20+ years.

We need more. Much more. We need to keep importing people till the country collapses under the weight.

RedFox3001

People here hate to hear it, but Farage is right.

Little-Attorney1287

I’ve never seen the sentiment this strong before on this subreddit.

Tbh, 25,000 people that we may have been indebted to shouldn’t be a big deal. And from that large group the Telegraph has obviously found the most egregious example. 22 dependants is mental, I agree.

But the real problem is the year on year regulated immigration. We’ve had 250k NET migration per year for 2 decades. And for the last decade we had a government promising to do something about it at every election but actually making it worse.

I don’t understand why we can’t just plug this to Net 0. That’d still be a lot of people coming here, and we could afford to be more picky with the quality of those people’s skills

Madgick

Good, this will help our ageing population and make us more diverse and we will have more delicious food to choose from.  What is the problem?

wolfensteinlad

Apropos of nothing but a few weeks ago the Telegraph were cheering on America attacking Iran, just as they did Afghanistan 20 years or so ago, and in ten years or so they will be complaining about the cost of Iranian refugees when this ridiculous expense could be avoided if we stopped trying to create wars.

And lets be honest, the people to blame for this particular fuck up were the dregs of the Tory party that Boris had left to form a Government with following the calamity of Brexit, something else The Telegraph promoted but seems unwilling to acknowledge was a total fuck up they were partly responsible for.

Unlucky-Public-2947

Why can't they go usa? This was their war

Clappingdoesnothing

I understand we have a duty towards these people because there's a good probability they'll get slaughtered by the Talibans, but blindly going after the US in foreign policy in the early 2000s will probably be remembered as one of the worst mistakes in the history of this country. Not just for the UK but most of the continent, the US reaped the gains while Europe had to deal with the collateral damage

Tiberinvs

So now they have found this out, will they deport them all?

Gold_Dot411

The government should send the bill to Trump. He was the person who negotiated the complete surrender to the Taliban, betraying an entire nation. He handed over millions of women to the most dreadful regime in the world. Yet not one of our spineless politicians even mentions Trump during this fiasco.

Antique_Composer_588

I deployed to Afghanistan,  we abandoned the brave men and women that helped us. Most of them are probably dead now.

I remember the horrible stories the interpreter tells us of what the talaban do when they find their family. 
I may be in the minority her but I'm 
Happy we got some of them out, and back home. They deserved to live in the UK more and most people. 
How many of you bleed and killed of this nation. They deserved to come back with us.

New_Speaker_3413

Has nobody started a petition to have this discussed in parliament?

mrhippo85

I think this is a recipe for some Afghans bringing over non-relatives pretending they're their children. Could be done for altruistic reasons like giving some kids a better life, but some might verge into being human trafficking.

bush-

I am right of centre politically. I have bo problem with anybof this. Our data breach .our problem. We must protect those that helped serve with out army over  there and their loved ones. WE fucked up. They didnt and our fuck up put their lives in dangern and the lives of their loved ones. It's our mess to clean up, no 1 else's

berty87

Wonder if reform voters will care about [Tice](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/07/17/reform-hypocrisy-deputy-leader-welcomed-afghan-refugees/) previously being quoted as saying “‘we must protect the brave Afghans who helped us and their families by settling them in the UK’”.

Jamericho

**Alternate Sources**

Here are some potential alternate sources for the same story:

* [Spies and special forces among more than 100 Britons whose details were included in Afghan data leak](https://news.sky.com/story/spies-and-special-forces-among-more-than-100-britons-whose-details-were-included-in-afghan-data-leak-13398068), suggested by willm8032 - news.sky.com

So the UK authorities can't even safeguard the identities of their spies and special forces soldiers, but they want us all to prove our ID and age online now, so they can track and log all our browsing activity, and we should somehow trust them not to leak this information.

cennep44

I fail to see how this could had happened ‘accidentally’ (to quote reporter Joel Gunter bbc reporter outside high court - source bbc news live)

If we’re exposed to security failures by mere accidents then god forbid we face someone who has resources and planning to hack the data.

How do they not have safeguards to prevent this kind of failure?

thebritwriter

In case there’s any misconception as to who was in charge when this leak happened in February 2022,

The prime minister was Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, and the foreign secretary was Mary Elizabeth Truss.

cornedbeef101

There'll be an independent review into this scandal but no actual changes will come from it

Mayrr_

That would more greatly explain why a Super Injunction was in place, but even still to keep this omnishambles so quiet to cover their own neglect

How do you just so wilfully expose a database like this? How do you not have everything encrypted and restricted so data cannot be accidentally leaked?

ash_ninetyone

I thought this was just a spreadsheet. Why would all that information be accessible to one person who might leak it, accidentally or otherwise? Surely things should be compartmentalised much more strictly than that?

80sMovieReferences

Its amazing the focus regulators put on companies around data security and yet the intelligence services and the government cant even keep their own s*** in order

MetalWorking3915

I wonder if anyone will end up jailed under the OSA for this?

Tricky_Peace

Why are people not going to prison for releasing this data?

FewEstablishment2696

Insert David Beckham  meme,

Tell me the real reason for the super injunction 

No the real reason

That’s better

A spokesman for the data security team said, "This is the one thing we didn't want to happen."

NoceboHadal

They also managed to lose payroll and pension information for a shitload of serving &amp; vets; myself included. 👍

Spare-grylls

This is exactly why I can’t stand the idea of anyone collecting my data for profit or any other reason. If even the most secure systems, protecting special forces and intelligence personnel, can be breached, then no one’s data is truly safe. It shouldn’t just be frowned upon, it should be outright illegal to collect and monetise personal information.

chronicnerv

Boris pfewhell bell endJohnson have been in charge with these failures as well as with bankrupting the whole of the uk.

ucardiologist

TBF this is to be expected if you are trying to hire technical and cyber personnel for 34k, raise the pay scales and you might pull people out of the private sector

verdamain

It's impressive how big a fuck up this was

Astriania

It's wild that I can't find reporting of what happened to the thicko who caused the leak in the first place. Wouldn't be surprised if they got off with a telling off and some paid leave considering the MoD's track record with punishing their own

Embarrassed_Grass_16

I hope we never have to fight a war again, it might not go well for us if this is representative of MoD work.

Jealous-Hedgehog-734

All this bad news coming out. They need something to divert attention away.  Quick look over there, big scary Russia about to invade.

2024-YR4

Oh, so NOW we care. 


Not that all the poor Afghans doing us a favour were hung out to dry , were bothered because cpl smith might get more spammy texts.

No-Strike-4560

A data breach revealing the identities of Afghans who assisted UK efforts raises serious safety concerns and questions about past governmental decisions.

UK Afghan Data Breach and Its Implications

Why This Matters

Public Sentiment Summary

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What the people want