No 10 insists it is confident over intelligence sharing with US despite Trump officials' group chat leak

25 March 2025, 13:29 | Updated: 25 March 2025, 14:16

Downing Street has insisted it is confident UK intelligence shared with the US is being handled appropriately, in the wake of a high-profile security breach involving the Trump administration.

Luke Pollard, the armed forces minister, told parliament that no UK personnel involved in the US operation against the Houthis on 15 March were put at risk by a reporter being accidentally included in a group chat where senior US officials discussed the airstrikes.

He added that the government had "high confidence" that British operational security remained "intact", despite the breach by a crucial intelligence partner.

US latest: Trump's team labelled 'complete amateurs'

The Trump administration is facing calls for an investigation after Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, was added to a group which included US vice president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, national security adviser Mike Waltz and director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

In an article headlined The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans, Mr Goldberg revealed he "knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming".

'High confidence' operational security 'intact'

Speaking to the House of Commons' defence select committee, the armed forces minister said: "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."

But Mr Pollard went on to say that there would be "a clear consequence" should any UK officials not follow the correct procedures around classified material.

He told the committee: "The Ministry of Defence has very clear policies in relation to what information can be shared and the format in which it can be shared. We don't comment on how allies share their information.

"I'm confident that we have robust measures to safeguard our information and our data, but we also have a very clear set of systems where individuals don't follow procedures, with sufficient consequences to reflect the actions that have been taken."

The minister added that there would be "a clear consequence and disciplinary process for anyone that was not following those procedures".