Lewis Goodall wins Scoop of the Year for reporting on Afghan data leak

The News Agents presenter and journalist, who also hosts LBC's Sunday with Lewis Goodall, was awarded the gong at the British Journalism Awards in London on Thursday evening.

Lewis's reporting brought to light the fact that a leak by a bungling MoD official endangered the lives of thousands of Afghans - leading to a resettlement scheme being set up to relocated those who assisted British forces to the UK.

Lewis received the gong alongside the Daily Mail's Sam Greenhill and David Williams, who also worked on the story.

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The tenacious reporter found out that in February 2022, under the Boris Johnson-led Conservative government, an unnamed Royal Marine working in UK Special Forces HQ, in Regent's Park Barracks, sent a spreadsheet to trusted Afghan colleagues.

The sender had thought the list contained details of 150 individuals who had applied for asylum in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).

The scheme was set up to offer sanctuary in the UK to Afghans who supported British military operations during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

However, the file contained the names, contact details, and, in some cases, family members of, not 150, but 18,714 Afghan asylum seekers. When family members are included, the number of people potentially put at risk rises to around 100,000.

Among the people endangered by the colossal mistake in 2022 were spies and special forces operatives who worked with the British in Afghanistan.

The story was repressed by officials using a gagging order imposed in 2023 which was only lifted in July this year.

An estimated £7billion has been spent on mopping up after the mistake, with a large chunk of that being spent on resettling Afghanistan nationals.