BBC ‘exposes Foreign Off ice whistleblower in Afghan dogs storm’
THE Whitehall row over whether Boris Johnson intervened in the evacuation of animals from Afghanistan took an extraordinary turn last night after the BBC was accused of accidentally blowing the cover of a Foreign Office whistleblower.
Sima Kotecha, a journalist on BBC2’s Newsnight, published on Twitter a photograph of a computer screen showing an email from Nigel Casey, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.
The email said FCO officials were seeking ‘clear guidance for us from No10 ASAP on what they would like us to do’ about the airlift of Pen Farthing’s animals from Kabul last August.
The toolbar at the bottom of the screen showed that the computer may have been linked to the email account of a senior mandarin at the Foreign Office.
The tweet was swiftly deleted – but not before the staff member’s name had been spotted by keeneyed Twitter followers.
The leak is now the subject of a formal process by the Civil Service, but it is understood the alleged leaker denies responsibility.
The row came after Mr Johnson denied claims that he authorised the evacuation, describing the idea that animals were prioritised over people as ‘total rhubarb’.
Sir Philip Barton, the Foreign Office’s permanent undersecretary, had to apologise for misleading MPs over whether Mr Johnson had intervened when he said that Mr Casey had not received any correspondence referring to an intervention by the Prime Minister. The Newsnight emails blew apart this claim, forcing Sir Philip to write to the committee’s chairman, Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, to apologise for giving ‘inadvertently inaccurate answers’.
The civil servant, who is said to be passionate about civil rights and poverty alleviation, is believed to have worked in aid programmes in northern Africa before joining the Civil Service around six years ago.
Their career has seen them work across projects at the Department for International Development.
Ms Kotecha was appointed Newsnight’s UK editor less than two months ago. She had previously been the centre of a court case after a man admitted to harassing her as she prepared to broadcast live on television.
Ms Kotecha, who once described herself as ‘ambitious, enthusiastic and giggly’ in a reporter profile on the BBC’s website, was hailed for her bravery during the incident.
A Foreign Office spokesman said it took ‘all allegations of security breaches extremely seriously’, adding: ‘We are currently conducting an internal investigation into allegations of improper disclosure of sensitive communications. It would be inappropriate to comment further while that inquiry is ongoing.’
A BBC spokesman declined to comment last night.
‘A senior mandarin at the Foreign Office’