Joe Biden accidentally says Trump instead of Obama

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The US Government has criticised the British Government for their “lax” security after a dossier containing top secret documents was lost by an official at a bus stop in June. The documents discussed the likely Russian reaction to HMS Defender’s passage through Ukrainian waters as part of the Carrier Strike Group’s operational voyage, and some of them were marked as “Secret UK Eyes Only”.

Several senior sources at the US Department of Defence have now claimed that if a similar situation took place in the US “an FBI investigation would ensue,” according to the Telegraph.

They said: “At the very least, the person in question would either be asked to resign, forced to take early retirement or be permanently stripped of his security clearance and redeployed to a role where no security clearance was required.”

It is believed that it was Angus Lapsley, former director for defence of international security and south-east Europe at the Foreign Office, who lost the 50-page secret dossier after removing it from a secure building.

The Telegraph also reported that Mr Lapsley, who was set to be made ambassador to NATO, had his security clearance suspended and was removed from the Ministry of Defence after the breach.

However, the former director still remains in post at the Foreign Office.

And, a Government source claimed that while Mr Lapsley’s security clearance was suspended, “it doesn’t mean it won’t be reinstated at a later date”.

The US has criticised the “lack of discipline” shown towards Mr Lapsley. US officials claimed that the whole situation raised “serious questions about UK-US intelligence”.

They said: “The way it has been handled does not instil confidence.

“Why was he even taking such documents out of the building? Obviously, the British are more lax than we are.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, sided with the US and also questioned why Mr Lapsley was allowed to take such sensitive documents home.

Sir Iain said: “The message should go out very strongly that the days of taking papers home are long gone.

“It should be a significant offence to take papers home.”

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He continued: “It was a terrible security mess and he shouldn’t be carrying stuff like that home when it’s classified.

“I hope the Government is making a real point that anyone who takes papers home will find themselves being disciplined.”

A Government spokesman said: “The UK Government takes the protection of its information extremely seriously. The investigation has independently confirmed the circumstances of the loss and the manner in which it occurred.

“The investigation has confidence that all secret papers were recovered, there was no evidence of espionage and there has been no compromise of the documents by adversaries.

“The individual concerned has been removed from sensitive work and has already had their security clearance suspended pending a full review.”

A similar situation happened in 1986 when Lord West left documents detailing large cuts to the Navy on a canal towpath, which resulted in the former First Sea Lord being court martialed.

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