The loss of the child benefit CDs containing 25m names, as well as six other significant breaches since April 2005, “may well” indicate systemic failure at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, its acting chairman acknowledged yesterday.
But Dave Hartnett told MPs he had seen no evidence that senior civil servants were complicit in the rule breach which led to the loss of the two discs on their way from the HMRC centre in Tyne and Wear to the National Audit Office.
– The Guardian
The planned database containing the details of all 11 million children in England should be suspended because it is insecure and will put children’s safety at risk, an alliance of independent school heads and privacy campaigners warns today.
In a letter to the Guardian, influential groups representing private schools, together with the human rights campaign Liberty, say it is “ludicrous” that the government intends to push on with the controversial ContactPoint database project while awaiting the outcome of a new security analysis of the system.
Ed Balls, the children, schools and families secretary, announced the review last month after the scandal in which discs containing the details of 25 million people on the child benefit database were lost after being sent by unrecorded post.
– The Guardian
HM Revenue & Customs has suffered seven “significant” breaches of security involving the loss of personal data in the past 2.50 years, the organisation’s new acting chairman disclosed yesterday.
Dave Hartnett said that the breaches, which took place after Revenue & Customs was created from the merger of two agencies in April 2005, could represent a “systemic failure”.
– The Times
Young Muslims are being convicted of thought crimes and branded as terrorists for life, the country’s most prominent Islamic leader has told The Times.
Muhammad Abdul Bari said police and prosecutors were criminalising youths for harbouring “silly thoughts” and were undermining Gordon Brown’s GB pound 400 million drive to win Muslim hearts and minds.
Dr Bari, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, was commenting ahead of the sentencing today of Samina Malik, a shop assistant who styled herself as “the lyrical terrorist”, wrote poetry in praise of beheadings and joined extremist internet forums.
– The Times
Ministers are to abandon proposals to hold terrorist suspects for up to 56 days without charge under new plans.
Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, will concede that they do not have the necessary support to increase the present limit of 28 days after a public outcry over the planned rise.
– The Telegraph
