Six times government documents were accidentally caught on camera

The government's plans to back new grammar schools were caught on camera by a photographer outside Downing Street today.

Steve Back's photographs captured a minister unwittingly exposing the plans as he carried documents to a Cabinet meeting.

Embarrassing as the gaffe was, it was not the first time secret papers have been caught on camera.

Here are six times government papers were accidentally revealed:

• 2009: Senior counter-terror officer Bob Quick walked into Downing Street with details of a major anti-terror operation on display. The operation had to be rushed forward, and Quick resigned.

• 2010: Liberal Democrat politician Danny Alexander was pictured through the window of his car with a draft copy of the spending review, revealing hundreds of thousands of public sector jobs were to be cut.

• 2011: Then International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell was photographed with protected paper, raising concerns about instability in Afghanistan.

• 2011: Conservative politician Oliver Letwin was forced to apologise after he was pictured dumping work-related documents in a bin located in a park close to Downing Street.

• 2015: A document about the possible privatisation of Channel 4 was photographed as an unnamed official arrived at Downing Street.

• 2016: In January, an event on Syrian refugees scheduled to take place in Davos featuring the Queen of Jordan was exposed to photographers.