CDs containing 25 million people's...

Tax Boss Quits After Records Vanish

By Sky News Political Staff
Updated:19:15, Tuesday November 20, 2007


Two crucial CDs containing 25 million people's personal details have gone missing, the Chancellor has admitted.

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Ex HM Customs and Revenue chairman Paul Gray

The chairman of HM Revenue and Customs Paul Gray has quit as the country's top tax man over the matter.

The Metropolitan Police are "making inquiries" into the blunder and Alistair Darling has made a statement to the Commons.

They went missing after they were sent by TNT courier.

"The missing information contains details of all Child Benefit recipients: records for 25 million individuals and seven and a quarter million families," he told MPs.

He also revealed that the missing discs contain personal data including the names, National Insurance and bank details of millions of child benefit recipients.

It means that the personal details of every family in the country with a child under 16 have gone missing.

Mr Darling told the Commons: "I regard this as an extremely serious failure by HMRC in their responsibility to the public."

In a letter to HMRC staff, Mr Gray said: "I am announcing today that I will be standing down as HMRC Chairman as a result of a substantial operational failure in the Department.

"This is not the way I would have planned to organise my departure from HMRC."

The Prime Minister has expressed his "full confidence" in the Chancellor of the Exchequer but Sky News' Political Editor Adam Boulton said the implications for the Treasury were very serious.

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Brown expressed "full confidence" in Darling

"I would expect this afternoon that from some quarters we will hear suggestions that Alistair Darling should resign, and his position has already been damaged by the Northern Rock crisis."

Conservative member of the House of Commons Treasury Committee Michael Fallon told Sky News Alistair Darling was in a precarious position.

"It will underline the growing feeling that we have a new chancellor who is not up to the job," he said.

Lib Dem leadership contender Chris Huhne said he was "flabbergasted" at the situation.

"It is a breach of trust and it is quite right that one head has a rolled, but if ministers knew about this, if they knew about the security problems, I'm afraid ministerial heads will have to roll as well."



http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91211-1293566,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7103566.stm

:nutkick:

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Now why is it that in the U.S., they manage to lose nuclear secrets, top secret documents, ANYTHING related to UFO's or the Moon, but that Muthafookin' tax man never forgets a penny? Wanna change governments?

Data from those CDs would fetch a pretty penny in the identity-theft market.

that brings me to my question...so it just disappeared suddenly? And thats the only record?

i think its a ploy to bring down the social system.

yea how many backups do they have

They always hide stuff they don't want us to notice. This is a classic Sneaky OP to divert attention and it's also a neat way for the Government to do a U Turn on ID Cards. The fuckers already have too much info on us as it is. Terrorism, Money Laundering, Drug Money, all excuses to spy on us...:newburn:

Down with everything, up with down and down with down when it becomes up...

Kwalddi-Kwal, Kwalddi-Kwal, Kwalddi-Kwal...:fly::mod:

Tax information and Social Security information ("The Dole") are the way governments allow themselves to keep database info on it's citizens, just like in Orwell's 1984.

This is a disturbing story for that reason. Information - as we all know - is power. 25 million people have their lives on the digital auction block now, no doubt.

Apparently you can buy those CDs back on Ebay: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/21/hmarc_ebay_auction/

Or maybe it's a hoax.