Over 3,700 Ministry of Defence security passes were lost or stolen in the last year

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

• 3,531 MoD passes were lost and another 285 stolen in the last 12 months

A Written Parliamentary Question (WPQ) tabled by Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Sarah Olney MP has revealed that thousands of Ministry of Defence security passes were lost or stolen over the last 12 months. 

The WPQ response, given by Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the MoD, Dr Andrew Murrison revealed that 'in the last 12 months the Department has lost 3,531 passes and had 285 stolen.'

The Liberal Democrats have called the findings ‘alarming’ and have urged Ministers to launch an official inquiry into the findings.  

In response, Dr Murrison claimed that the MoD ‘is exploring a number of measures to reduce future losses.’

Responding to the figures, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson, Sarah Olney MP said:

“These figures are frankly alarming - Ministry of Defence security passes in the wrong hands could jeopardise British citizens and our national security.

“Ministers should launch an official inquiry into how these passes were lost, whether secure sites have been compromised, and what risk this could pose.

“The Government has a duty to keep our country safe, yet these figures suggest that they are being complacent with our security”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Reported by The Sun.

The Written Parliamentary Question to the Department of Defence can be found here.