A second data breach at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could have compromised the safety of dozens more Afghans, it has emerged.

The details of 55 Afghan citizens who might be eligible for relocation to the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap) were mistakenly made public in an email, rather than being hidden to shield their identities, according to the BBC.

This comes shortly after the defence secretary Ben Wallace launched an investigation into how a similar error – affecting more than 250 people – was made.

Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said the Government had been “far too complacent” about the gas crisis, after he made warnings earlier in the week.

The Labour MP, speaking in the House of Commons, added: “Events since have unfortunately borne this out: complacent about the crisis in the market, complacent about the impact on families, complacent about the cost of living crisis.

“He pretended on Monday and again today that it was normal for a number of suppliers to go down each winter, but what we are dealing with is far from normal – 8,000 customers losing their suppliers yesterday alone, 1.5 million in the last six weeks.”

Mr Miliband also quoted from a letter energy regulator Ofgem sent to the Government 18 months ago warning about “systemic risk to the energy supply as a whole”.

The MP said: “It said the usual Ofgem mechanism, the supplier of last resort, may not be possible, and it went on, the failure of medium and large suppliers would need to be handled via a special administration regime, placing significant burden and costs on Government.

“We are seven days from the cut to Universal Credit. This is the last time a Government minister will be in the House to explain to millions of families why it is plunging them further into fuel poverty. Instead of warm words or platitudes, can he now tell the British people how he can possibly justify this attack on their living standards?”

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, responding to an urgent question in the Commons, told MPs that the government would not be bailing out failed energy companies and said the energy price cap would remain in place.

He said: “The Government has been clear that protecting consumers is our primary focus and shapes our entire approach to this.

“We will continue to protect consumers with the energy price cap.

“The solution to this crisis will be found from the industry and the market, as is already happening, and the Government – I repeat – will not be bailing out failed energy companies.”

Mr Kwarteng maintained the price cap will remain in place and has insisted the industry and market will find the solution to the energy crisis.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she would continue to work for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release “until she returns home”.

In a statement, the Cabinet minister said: “Today marks 2,000 days since Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s cruel separation from her family.

“She is going through an appalling ordeal.

“We are working tirelessly to secure her return home to her family.

“I pressed the Iranian foreign minister on this yesterday and will continue to press until she returns home.”

Scotland’s drugs minister has defended a change in stance which will allow police to issue warnings to those caught with drugs such as heroin or cocaine, saying: “We can’t arrest our way out of a drugs death crisis.”

Angela Constance hit back after the Conservatives claimed the new approach – announced by Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain QC – amounts to “defacto decriminalisation”.

Police officers can already use their discretion to issue warnings to those caught with Class B and C drugs – such as barbiturates and cannabis.

Ms Bain announced on Wednesday that that power is now being extended to Class A substances, which also include ecstasy, crack cocaine and magic mushrooms.

Describing the change as a “smart use of the law”, Ms Constance said it will be at the discretion of police whether a warning is issued, and she stressed this will only be an option in cases of possession for individual use, not where someone is suspected of being involved in supplying drugs to others.

She hailed the move as “very significant” as Scotland aims to reduce drugs deaths – which reached a record 1,339 in 2020.

The Government has today launched a consultation on plans to give everyone the right to request flexible working from the first day in a job.

The move, reported earlier this week, will lead to 2.2 million more people given the right, rather than having to wait for six months under current arrangements, said ministers.

The consultation will also consider cutting the current three-month period an employer has to consider any request.

The Government said a range of flexible working methods will also be looked at, including job-sharing, flexitime, compressed hours and phased retirement, as well as working from home, a trend which has accelerated as a result of the pandemic.

A day-one right to a week’s unpaid leave for carers balancing a job with caring responsibilities is also being planned.

Ministers said there were some circumstances where businesses will not be able to offer flexible working, so they should still be able to reject a request if they have sound business reasons.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Empowering workers to have more say over where and when they work makes for more productive businesses and happier employees.

“It was once considered a ‘nice to have’, but by making requests a day-one right, we’re making flexible working part of the DNA of businesses across the country.

“A more engaged and productive workforce, a higher calibre of applicants and better retention rates – the business case for flexible working is compelling.”

But Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, who is also shadow future of work secretary, said it reflected “another broken manifesto promise”.

She said: “Labour will give workers the right to flexible working – not just the right to request it. Labour will make flexible working a force for good so that everyone is able to enjoy the benefits of flexible working, from a better work-life balance to less time commuting and more time with their family.”

A judge has called for the home secretary to “urgently” establish a public inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess, who was poisoned by novichok after the Salisbury attack.

It would also cover the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, allegations of Russian state responsibility and involvement of GRU agents named as suspects by British police.

Priti Patel was accused of delaying the process at a hearing on Wednesday, after refusing to indicate if she would be willing to convert an existing inquest into a public inquiry.

The Independent’s security correspondent Lizzie Dearden has the details.

Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland, has said he is “not overly concerned” about a lack of supplies at Christmas because the shortages are hitting fresh produce first, but warned food prices could rise this winter due to “inflationary pressures” on supermarkets.

He told Sky News: “We’re fortunate, we’re obviously frozen experts, we’ve got lots and lots of stock fully available so I’m not overly concerned and certainly there’s no need for customers to panic buy, we certainly don’t want to go back to those dark days.

“But I do think it’s right to sound the alarm bell on some of these issues that we’re facing because if they’re not sorted, then we might have some issues.

“But it’s more issues within the fresh chamber than it is frozen.

“We’re also facing inflationary pressures because of all the things that we’ve talked about.

“I’m also concerned about retail selling prices as well as we get into the winter and into 2022.”

Priti Patel’s new asylum plan stigmatises those seeking asylum in the UK as “unworthy and unwelcome” and creates a two-tier system that would be in violation of international law, the UN Refugee Agency has said.

The UK Nationality and Borders Bill, which the government has introduced in order to deter people from attempting “illegal” entry into the UK, will create a “lower class of status” for the majority of refugees who arrive in the country spontaneously, the UNHCR said.

The bill, which was published in July and is currently going through parliament, would make it a criminal offence for an asylum-seeker to arrive in the UK without permission. Asylum seekers would face up to four years in prison if convicted.

The Independent’s Tom Batchelor reports.

Minister for Small Business Paul Scully told BBC Breakfast that the Government will not bail out small energy companies.

said: “We are not going to bail out companies where there business model cannot be sustained. But what we are interested in doing is protecting consumers.

“We want to make sure they have continuity of supply, we want to make sure we can keep their prices as keen as possible and we are doing that through the Price Cap and the Warms Homes Discount.”