Leak of Afghan asylum seeker details marks a new low for shambolic Starmer

Just when you imagined the shame could not possibly run any deeper, this mostly shambolic crew that pose as our elected political leaders manage to drag it even lower. That the names and contact details of thousands of Afghan asylum seekers, most of whom had assisted British forces while in conflict against the Taliban, were shared with those yearning to murder them was bad enough. But to turn it into a political blame game is even worse.

The original leak was in February 2022 when an email was sent which accidentally included a spreadsheet with 33,000 rows of information and the identities of 25,000 Afghans who were seeking asylum in the UK, of whom 18,714 had worked with the British Army. If it weren't so gravely life threatening, you could imagine it as a scene from Carry On Up The Khyber! That kicked off this latest Whitehall farce which has seen a secret operation fly in thousands of Afghans to stay in hotels prior to being offered asylum. Some had previously been denied asylum due to criminal records for sexual and violent offences.

The cost is already well north of £6billion and when it finally wraps up is predicted to be £7billion. However, you and I who fund this obscene ineptitude were not deemed worthy enough to learn of the gruesome details - and are expected to pay the taxes to fund the cover up.

Defence Secretary John Healey, who has the doom-laden delivery of a junior official in a small-town coroners' court, said: "No government wishes to withhold information from parliamentarians, the public or the press." Credit to him for maintaining a straight face - because that's precisely what this government and its predecessor did!

When the injunction was initially granted it was meant to last for four months, however this cover-up lasted 683 days. While Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is right to say "previous government ministers have questions to answer," he can't honestly expect us to absolve him and his team of all responsibility. After all, they've been in power for over 12 months and the resettlement programme has continued on his watch.

The full glare of publicity must now be directed towards all those who have sought to criminally mislead us in this fashion. Politicians should be named, shamed and made to account for themselves and any civil servant found to have been involved similarly dealt with. Although you just know they'll be protected and allowed to continue to work from their back gardens for most of the week.

Lamentably, very few emerge with any credit from this lengthy debacle. But one who does is the High Court judge who overturned the gagging order, pointedly wondering "am I going bonkers?" in the process. And former Veterans' Minister, Conservative Johnny Mercer, who asked for a review of all Afghan Special Forces applications back in February 2024. That was supposed to take just 12 weeks - but 17 months later it has yet to be delivered. Lastly, we are told this is the most significant ever use by the government of its so-called "super injunction" powers. But by their very nature, how can we ever know?

As the row over a 12-year-old schoolgirl who wore a Geri Halliwell-style Union Jack dress to a diversity day and was prevented from giving a speech by the poorly educated idiots who run Bilton School in Rugby, Warwickshire, gets uglier, let's pause to consider this. Do you imagine a girl dressed in similar patriotic style would be barred from a similar event in the US, France, Australia - or indeed Wales, Scotland, Ireland or any other country on the planet? No, me neither. So why are some people so ashamed of our proud heritage?

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Are there two Chancellors? The question seems valid after Rachel Reeves' speech to City folk at the Mansion House
last week in which she proclaimed: "In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of business, choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of growth." Is this the same Chancellor who has presided over the disastrous hike in National Insurance contributions which can already be seen to be killing off jobs, as well as ushering in other measures that have seen 17,000 millionaire and billionaire wealth creators flee the country? As for cutting red tape and getting on with the action, she is one of the most senior members of an administration that's commissioned more than 70 reviews - into everything from buses to bombs. Don't buy this inverted twaddle.

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With the summer holidays about to get into full swing, chances are many of you will be using our airports. And, as an RAC report showed last week, this is yet another area where we are being forced to cough up more, with airports from Bristol to Belfast City now hiking up drop-off fees. As most EU countries make no charge whatsoever for a "kiss and fly" service, this rip off shortchanges us all.

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Thames Water seeks to hold a gun to our heads as it bleats it might have to be nationalised if it is not let off past fines, which has put a rescue deal on the verge of collapse. Let's just fine these overpaid, less than talented drips who run it with the same ferocity as they pump sewage into our rivers and lakes.

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The Director General of the BBC, Tim Davie, deserves a pay rise to take him to £547,000 because the organisation has, in the words of chairman Samir Shah, enjoyed an "exceptional" year. Wow! What would he earn without the long list of disasters from Gary Lineker to Glastonbury, with the Gaza documentary in between?