Defence minister James Heappey has said it is “great at last” to welcome Afghans who worked with the British army “to their new permanent homes”, as he lifted the lid on the secretive operation to airlift thousands of refugees out of Pakistan and bring them to safety in Britain.
Speaking exclusively to The Independent at an army base in Leicestershire, Mr Heappey said the UK government “owe these people an enormous debt”, as it was revealed that 1,500 had been scrambled to the UK since the Ministry of Defence operation began in October.
