I have wondered for quite some time how many 'interpreters' the British Army actually employed in Afghastlystan.
It would appear from refugee numbers that these will not have been the hundred or so you might have expected but could possibly have been measured in tens of thousands - perhaps even more.
That is simply unbelievable.
Let us not forget too that a significant number of actual interpreters had already been allowed to settle in the UK.
I made contact yesterday with an Afghan veteran, fluent in Pashto who did much work behind Taliban lines.
It was confirmed that the numbers of so-called interpreters have been prodigiously exaggerated.
Furthermore, many of the individuals who claimed to be interpreters were no more than simple workers - paid at 1,000% of normal local rates - and had their identities protected by having them operate only in provinces where they were unknown.
The incompetent shambles of the departure, along with the revealing of the concomitant names of these workers has been the only thing which has now given them a legitimate case for refugee status.
Until this week - that had not been the case at all.
