The Afghan coverup and the assault on democracy

The government's super-injunction is an attack on the British people

In the story of the staggering covert government operation to cover up a leak of military data and the resulting plan to secretly airlift thousands of barely-vetted Afghanis to the UK, it is hard to keep up with the sheer number of jaw-dropping details. The off-books spending. The blackmailer reportedly rewarded with a British visa. That those named in the leak were already known to the Taliban and therefore not obviously in additional danger because of it (something confirmed by the court ruling lifting the injunction). The “public relations narrative” concocted to mislead Parliament and the public. The cowardice of those who knew and said nothing. And the very existence of government super-injunctions.

There is almost too much to take in.

But the overriding story here is nothing less than a plot against the British people. This plot - in which it seems much of the State and both major political parties were complicit - rested on a simple and dangerous principle: “the public must not find out what we did”. It is one thing for a government to suspect it is unpopular, but it is almost unprecedented in modern British political history for a government to undertake something so unpopular it had to be hidden not just from the people but from Parliament as well - backed by the threat of prison for anyone spilling the truth.

This incredible conspiracy touches on all of the most important and sensitive political issues of our time. Foreign adventurism, mass migration, freedom of speech, out-of-control government spending, and the reign of human rights law over democracy. This is why it is so important that this issue has seen the light of day.

This story is not over. Even now, our right as the public to know what has happened is being overridden in backroom deals between the MoD and journalists. Much is still subject to what Tim Black in Spiked called the “government-sponsored omertà”.

Those responsible are not event slightly apologetic. Ben Wallace proudly says he “makes no apology” for what he did. Grant Shapps, said he would “do the same thing again” and “walk over hot coals” to save more Afghanis. There is almost a second conspiracy afoot - a conspiracy to make sure this issue is buried and placed beyond debate. Any criticism of what happened is brushed aside and the whole story is being turned into story of an unfortunate leak and a necessary operation to clean up after it. Either we are asked to focus on the issues of data security rather than the bigger picture or any challenge is met by accusations of disloyalty to those ‘brave Afghans’ who risked their life for British troops.

But this story will not go away. As Phil Cunliffe writes perceptively in UnHerd, the revelations fundamentally “eat away at whatever political legitimacy remains of the decaying UK state”.

The truth is that this national scandal cements something that has been clear for some time: only a wholesale replacement of our political class and the government apparatus can do. Certainly, it gives us much to chew on at this year’s Battle of Ideas festival. But until that public opportunity to debate the way forward, we invite you to read these articles and commentators on the issue.

• Phil Cunliffe, The Afghan cover-up will haunt the UK

• Tim Black, The Afghan data breach was disastrous. The cover-up was worse

• Luca Watson, British elites are hand-wringers, not hatemongers

• Ben Sixsmith, The British establishment has completely failed

• Jonny Mercer, Finally, the ineptitude I saw first-hand has been exposed

• BBC Newscast, What Do We Know About The Afghan Data Breach?

• Gordon Rayner, Vast majority of ‘kill list’ Afghans’ asylum claims were ‘not genuine’

In this whole sorry affair, we must recognise the diligent reporting by a large number of newspapers, without whom this would not have come to light. But in addition, we commend the quick reporting on this issue from the following X accounts, who are well worth a follow:

• Adam Wren

• Charlie Peters

• Camilo

• Tony Dawson

Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial, London. Image via Wikipedia. No Swan So Fine - Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0. File:Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial profile.jpg. Created: 10 March 2017. Uploaded: 11 March 2017