The uncovered Afghan asylum scheme that enabled thousands who helped British troops to relocate to the UK is a "national scandal", a security expert has claimed.
Speaking to GB News, Stuart Crawford said the newly exposed scheme is a "PR disaster" for both the Government and the Ministry of Defence.
The scheme, which was confirmed by Defence Secretary John Healey on Tuesday, was set up after a personal data leak of almost 19,000 people who supported British forces was exposed to the Taliban.
As a result of the breach, more than 6,000 Afghans are to be relocated to the UK and Healey issued a "sincere apology" in the House of Commons.
PA / GB News
|Stuart Crawford branded the secret Afghan asylum scheme a 'national scandal' and a 'disaster' for Labour
Discussing the scheme on GB News, Crawford stated: "Not to put too fine a point on it, it is a national scandal and a disaster on so many sort of different planes.
"First of all, it's a PR disaster for the Government and the Ministry of Defence. But more importantly, I think it's a moral and ethical disaster for all those involved in the cover up."
Criticising the decision of the Government to not make the scheme public knowledge, Crawford added: "It places deep suspicion amongst people like me and all my former colleagues in the military.
"And indeed in the wider population as well, about how reputation management within the Government is more important than making sure that people don't come in danger of this data leak."
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GB NEWS | John Healey addressed the data breach in a Commons statement on Tuesday
Noting the "disastrous mistake" of the Royal Marines officer who exposed the data of thousands of Afghans, Crawford questioned the "systemic failures" of the Ministry of Defence.
He said: "I think that there's a great danger that the Royal Marines officer who made the mistake, and it was a disastrous mistake, is scapegoated for this.
"Whereas the real reason for this is systemic failures within the Ministry of Defence and the Government's handling of data, and the lack of control and checks over this sort of thing, and it's absolutely scandalous."
Asked by host Eamonn Holmes what the next steps for Government will be, Crawford admitted that the breach is "probably unfixable in the short to medium term".
GB News
|Crawford told GB News that the cover up is a 'PR disaster' for the Government and Ministry of Defence
Crawford told GB News: "We don't know if the Taliban has got access to the list of Afghans who helped British forces during that particular conflict. I very much suspect that if they didn't before, they certainly have got hold of it now.
"We don't know how many people have been targeted by the Taliban because they're on that list, and so it's probably unfixable in the short to medium term. But I think the it's the cover up, it's like Watergate all over again."
He concluded: "It's not what happened that in fact takes centre stage, it's the cover up that is the most deeply troubling part of it.
"Including the covert relocation of Afghans into the UK on on flights which were not announced via RAF Brize Norton and Stansted. As I said before, it is a national scandal and who knows what else has still got to come out."