End witch-hunt to learn from Afghan data debacle

© those demanding the public dismissal of the soldier responsible for the catastrophic Afghan resettlement data breach, I say: take a breath.

- By Tobias Ellwood

That is not to diminish the scale of the damage, the flawed decisions that followed, or the internal consequences rightly imposed.

This incident ranks among the most serious operational errors in recent Ministry of Defence history — without modem parallel.

It was not the result of a hostile cyberattack nor a deliberate act of exposure. This was a blunder with unprecedented consequences: vulnerable lives placed at risk, national integrity compromised and a costly, secretive response set in motion.

The lessons are many. But per haps the most important is this: how we respond to failure, especially in fast-moving, high-stakes environments, matters.

The MOD team tasked with identifying Afghans eligible for resettlement faced an impossible objective, under extreme pressure, with no historical precedent. Their task was clear but vast: to protect those who had risked their lives for us, now vulnerable to Taliban reprisal. And they had to do it at speed, without a blueprint.

Too often, the instinct within government is not to confront failure but to reach for blame - to cover up, deflect or single out individuals. This is not just an MOD problem, it is a Whitehall pattern in response to crisis.