No risk to UK lives from US security breach, says minister

The lives of British servicemen and women have not been put at risk by a major security breach in the United States, the UK armed forces minister has told MPs.

Luke Pollard said he had “high confidence” that British operational security remains “intact”.

It comes after after a US journalist was inadvertently added to a secret group chat where senior US officials discussed plans for a strike against the Houthi group in Yemen.

The UK did not participate in the recent US strikes against Houthi targets but it did provide routine air-to-air refuelling support for the US.

Asked whether UK personnel had been put at risk by the use of messaging app Signal to discuss US plans for a strike on Yemen, Pollard told the Commons Defence Committee: “No. All UK service personnel are covered by our normal approach to operational security, and the committee will understand that I won’t go into the details of how we keep our involvement in any support for military operations in the Red Sea or anywhere else [secure].

“But we’ve got high confidence that the measures that we have got with our allies, including the United States, remain intact.”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One programme that the “UK and US’s relationship is as strong as it has ever been”.

Asked if the UK should reconsider sharing intelligence with the US in light of the leak, she said: “We’ve been sharing intelligence and information for many decades and continue to do that through our secure networks.”

She was also quizzed about comments in the leaked chat from US Vice-President JD Vance, who reportedly said he hates “bailing Europe out again”.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly replies: “I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC”.

Rayner told the BBC: “I can’t second guess what the vice-president was meaning in private messaging.”

But she added: “The prime minister is constantly engaged with the president on number of issues include the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

“We continue to collaborate and continue to work with the US productively.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the US leak showed that “Trump’s White House can’t be trusted to take even the most basic steps to keep its own intelligence safe”.

He added: “Their fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to security means it could only be a matter of time until our own intelligence shared with them is also leaked. This could put British lives at risk.

“As a matter of urgency, the government must comprehensively review our intelligence-sharing arrangements with the US.”