UK has ‘high confidence’ in US security measures despite Yemen group chat breach
The armed forces minister said no UK personnel had been put at risk as a result of US officials using a messaging app to discuss war plans.
The UK still has “high confidence” that its operational security measures “remain intact”, despite revelations of a major US security breach.
On Monday night, it was reported that senior American officials, including the defence secretary and national security adviser, texted plans for an attack on Yemen to a group chat on messaging app Signal that had accidentally included a journalist.
Asked about the incident on Tuesday, armed forces minister Luke Pollard told the Commons Defence Committee that no British service personnel had been put at risk as a result.
He added: “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.”
The US carried out a series of air strikes against the rebel Houthi militant group in Yemen on March 15 following continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea – an operation in which the UK provided air-to-air refuelling support.
But two hours beforehand, details of the attack had been sent to a Signal group chat that included the US vice-president JD Vance, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and secretary of state Marco Rubio, among others.
Signal chats are encrypted, but are not approved by the US government for discussion of classified material.
The use of the app to provide details of the airstrikes came to light because one participant had accidentally added the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the group.
The US National Security Council said the group chat “appears to be authentic”, adding it was investigating how Mr Goldberg came to be included.
On Monday night, US president Donald Trump denied any knowledge of the breach, while a White House spokeswoman said the president retained “utmost confidence” in his national security team.
While Mr Pollard declined to comment on “how allies share their information”, he told the Defence Committee that UK personnel would face “a clear consequence and disciplinary process” for any similar breach of operational security.
Following news of the breach, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for a review of the UK’s intelligence-sharing arrangements with the US, saying the Trump administration “can’t be trusted to take even the most basic steps to keep its own intelligence safe”.
Sir Ed 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.”
But despite the breach, Downing Street said it retained confidence that any UK intelligence shared with the US was being handled appropriately.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The US is our closest ally when it comes to matters of defence, we have a long-standing relationship on intelligence and defence co-operation.”
Speaking to the BBC’s World at One programme, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner also dismissed talk of reviewing intelligence-sharing arrangements.
She said: “We’ve been sharing intelligence and information for many decades and continue to do that through our secure networks.
“It’s for the US and US president and government to explain and decide what they are doing in regards with security and that Signal group and how they have seen that.”
During the discussion on Signal, Mr Hegseth also accused European states of “free-loading” on US security guarantees, describing this as “pathetic”.
Asked whether Downing Street would reject this description, given UK involvement in the air strikes earlier this month, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We work daily with the US on regional security and stability in the Middle East and indeed in relation to Ukraine.
“The PM has always said that we’ve got one of the closest relationships with the US when it comes to defence and security and we expect that to continue.”
Ms Rayner added that she would not “second guess” what the participants in the Signal group had meant, adding: “I don’t recognise that there is a challenge between UK and US relations – it’s as strong as it has always been.”
