Yet Another Data Shambles

I do sometimes get the feeling that the government are just taking the piss out of us. Here is the tale of how some prat lost a data stick holding the records of every convict in Britain. This really is beyond belief and I can just imagine the queues of greedy solictors outside Strangeways and elsewhere, drooling at the thought of all that compensation they will be able to get for their 'clients' who have had their 'human rights' abused.

Certainly nobody, convicted criminals or anybody else, should have their personal data treated so carelessly by the state. It is one more reason for us to oppose the ever expanding database state.

Yet Another Data Shambles

Thanks to Mark Wadsworth who has this piece, or similar, on his blog.

I have an account with HSBC and have had some really annoying episodes with them. Only last week I threatened to take my account to another bank then remembered, I have tried most banks and they are all pretty abysmal.

This though could be the clincher. Just goes to show that crass incompetence is not the sole preserve of the public sector.

Another Data Shambles

Here we go again. This time it's Plymouth City Council.

A member of the public found the sickness records of 15 Plymouth City Council staff outside a local pub. Ironically the pub is called the Bar Ha! Ha!

The council have tried to say it's not a big deal but, as personal data should be secure, they are "taking this incident very seriously". Even so the authority claims it "has very strong procedures to protect data and its procedures are constantly under review". God help the people of Plymouth if the procedures weren't under constant review.

As government continues to look at more and more repressive ways to protect us from 'identity theft' it becomes ever more urgent that we protect ourselves from government, be it supra-national, national or local government.

Where is Newcastle?

It's quite incredible that the Department for Communities and Local Government doesn't seem to know the difference between Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Newcastle Staffordshire.

It transpires that this beacon of government excellence gave £2m of our taxes to Newcastle Borough Council by mistake, when it should have gone to Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Council for encouraging local businesses. Quite why it should be rewarded in this way for doing its job is another issue.

The interesting finale to this fiasco is that the government is only asking for the return of £970,000 of the £2,000,000. So I wonder what has happened to Newcastle, Staffordsire's unexpected windfall of over £1m. And, if the government had informed Newcastle-upon-Tyne that it was due this £2m, why they didn't question its non-arrival.

Here's a tip for the civil servants. You can tell the difference by phoning the two councils, if the person answering the phone seems to be talking a long forgotten dialect of Swahili, that is Newcastle-upon-Tyne. If you don't need an interpreter that is Newcastle, Staffordshire.

Government ID Card Plans Dealt A Blow

Here is a link to a leaked document annotated by NO2ID. It highlights the growing fiasco that is the government's ID card policy.

It's not terminal, yet, but we can hope.

Snouts in the Trough

The pigs are wallowing in muck again, this time it's Tory MP Derek Conway. Is stupidity the most important qualification for being an MP in modern Britain? Apparently the answer is yes, and it was perhaps a superfluous question. Don't forget that nice Mr Osborne, Tory prat for Tatton, is also being investigated by the authorities over £500,000 donated to help him run his office, some bloody office that must be!

Now I am not a one to slag off MPs, or others elected to public office, who employ family members to work for them. If a wife, or another relative, is qualified to do a job on your behalf then you would be a fool not to employ her. You only have to consider the backstabbing and plotting that seems to motivate too many in politics to conclude that employing a politico carries a certain risk. Now, unless your marriage is rocky in the first place, or your family is the kind that leaves horses heads in rivals' beds or shoots people when they are eating spaghetti, then employing a family member is a much safer bet.

However, when a politician employs a son who is doing a full-time degree course nearly 300 miles from his constituency, and there is no record of him lifting a finger on behalf of his 'employer', then that stinks and is a clear misuse of public funds. A 10 day suspension from parliament is no punishment whatsoever, a parliamentary by-election should be on the horizon.

If anybody still thinks that life would be better under the Tories then think again.

Or is all this sleaze designed to justify taxpayer funding of political parties?

Brown & Hain

This story really says it all about New Labour and Old Socialist Brown. Brown thinks it's acceptable to excuse the vile Work and Pensions Minister by declaring him incompetent. Remember the days when incompetence itself was enough to sack a government minister?