Sir Grant Shapps says his focus was on saving lives after Afghan data breach

Former defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps has defended the decision to keep secret a data breach involving the details of thousands of Afghans and some British officials.

In his first interview since it became public, Sir Grant told the BBC erring on the side of caution was “entirely justified”, adding his focus had been “sorting out the mess and saving lives”.

Many people were judged to be at risk of serious harm or even death as the Taliban sought retribution against those who had worked with the British government during the conflict.

He said the injunction blocking reporting of the breach was “quite rightly” applied for by his predecessor and he believed at the time it should stay in place.

A “super-injunction” – a kind of gagging order that prevents the reporting of even the existence…