Security procedures are under scrutiny after an Afghan evacuee admitted through a resettlement route managed to bring 22 family members to the UK, sparking questions about data handling, vetting standards and the strain on local resources.

Sir Keir Starmer is proposing to extend the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds, a move billed by Labour as democratic modernisation yet denounced by Reform UK and others as a tactical bid to harvest youthful votes before the forthcoming election.

High Court papers show senior ministers tried to stop a covert 2021 airlift that brought Afghan special forces and officials to Britain on security grounds but were overridden after accusations of “emotional blackmail”, casting fresh doubt on the Government’s handling of the Kabul evacuation and the safeguards applied to those subsequently resettled.

A leaked dossier reveals ministers secretly spent £7 billion housing thousands of Afghan personnel in the UK after a data breach exposed them to reprisals, prompting allegations of a prolonged cover-up and demands for transparency.