Civil servant who left files at bus stop to join key review | UK

Labor has asked a civilian servant who left top secret files at a bus stop to join a key defense review.

Angus Lapsley, 54, left the highly classified Ministry of Defense papers at a Kent bus stop in June 2021.

The 50-page dossier marked “Secret UK eyes only” included locations of British special forces in Kabul. It was picked up by a member of the public before being handed to the BBC.

A Whitehall source claimed the incident left the Americans “furious” as fears were raised that the breach could endanger US forces, many of whom were in the same location as their British counterparts.

Now, Lapsley has been asked to help with the “root and branch” review of Britain’s defence, which will analyze troop numbers and technological capabilities.

Angus Lapsley, currently NATO’s assistant secretary general for defense policy and planning, will join a team headed by George Robertson, a former NATO secretary general and former defense secretary, along with the former adviser to Donald Trump Fiona Hill and Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who ran the UK military joint forces command.

Former defense minister Sir Jeremy Quin will also assist in the review, which Robertson said was to “deliver a clear vision for UK defence” and “consider the profound challenges facing our country and how they can be countered”.

It was previously alleged that the top-secret papers included details of a Royal Navy warship’s passage through Crimea’s disputed territorial waters.

Sensitive intelligence is not allowed to be taken from government buildings unless properly logged out and securely stored.

However, according to a source who spoke with The Times, Lapsley picked up the pages from the in-tray on his desk and took them home with him.

The following morning, they fell out of his bag as he was rushing to work. They were later found wet and piled up at the bus stop, before being dried out and handed over.

Despite the security breach, Lapsley didn’t lose his job and was not prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act.

Following the incident, he was transferred to the Foreign Office. In 2022, he went to work with NATO.

An MoD Spokesperson said: “Angus Lapsley brings a huge amount of experience from his time at the (Foreign Office) and as the Nato assistant secretary general for defense policy and planning.”