Posted on Friday, November 23 2007
Northern Scot Column - Friday 23rd November 2007A Courageous DisplayAfter spending an agonising 90 minutes watching Scotland play Italy last week I think I have just about recovered my voice! The quality of football combined with the atmosphere and build up certainly made it one of the most memorable games of recent years and, despite the loss, the performance was a credit to the team and to manager Alex McLeish.This campaign has demonstrated to the world of football that Scotland is a force to be reckoned with and I we gave both World Cup Finalists a serious run for their money.At the end of the day we may be out of the competition but I think that the football played was the best I have seen from Scotland and they fully deserve their world ranking position, which is the highest in the country's history.Lost RecordsOn a rather worrying note it has been reported this week that HM Revenue & Customs has lost discs containing the details of 25 million Child Benefit recipients including names and addresses, dates of birth and bank accounts.While there is no suggestion as yet that any deliberate theft occurred it beggars belief that procedures were not in place to prevent such an incident occurring, especially given recent and highly publicised reports of lost and stolen data from banks and retailers.Given the regular reminders to members of the public to protect their private data, to invest in shredders to destroy bank statements and such like, we have every right to expect that public authorities will take appropriate precautions against such incidents.In this case the Chairman of HM Revenue & Customs resigned due to the extremely serious nature of the data protection breach and while he was not personally responsible it was appropriate that he take the overall responsibility for the failure. We can only hope that lessons will be learned and learned quickly.Historic GainsOn a lighter note I was delighted this week when it was announced that Scottish history would be getting a higher profile in schools with questions being made compulsory in history exams.As an avid reader of history books and historical biographies I understand the importance of understanding the past to inform the future. There is no substitute for human experience and our children must be given the opportunity to understand the triumphs and failures of the past and even just the every day issues that have affected people in different periods of history.Without this understanding of our own history it makes understanding Scotland's current position and, indeed, the issues affecting the world as a whole, all the more difficult to address in a constructive and informed way.All this would, of course, be impossible without the excellent teaching available in our Secondary School History Departments.
MORAY MP OUTRAGED AT LOSS OF 25 MILLION CHILD BENEFIT RECORDS
Posted on Tuesday, November 20 2007
Following the news that disks containing the confidential details of 25 million child benefit clients have been lost by HM Revenue and Customs, SNP Member of Parliament Angus Robertson has expressed his outrage at the breach of trust affecting every child benefit client in the UK.Data containing the details of all child benefit clients of HMRC was contained on two disks that were sent by unrecorded delivery and lost on route. The data was not encrypted in any way. The missing information contains details of all child benefit recipients; records for 25 million individuals and 7.5 million families. These records include the recipient and their children's names, addresses and dates of birth, together with Child Benefit numbers, National Insurance numbers, and where relevant, bank or building society account details.As a result of the security breach the government has been forced to admit that families should watch their bank accounts for signs of fraud such as unauthorised payments and withdrawals, although at this stage it is emphasised that there is no evidence to suggest the information is in criminal hands. The SNP's Angus Robertson said: " This is an outrageous and catastrophic breach of security, and a fundamental betrayal of trust with every family in the land. " The Chancellor must give guarantees that people's identities, bank details and money, will be protected after this utterly scandalous breach of security. " This loss of confidential information is as a result of the failure of the Government's own systems, with the disks being transported in breach of rules governing data protection. This is a catastrophic failure, and indeed, one can only imagine the danger to personal and, indeed, national security had this been the loss of 25 million ID card records. " This scandal is just the latest in a catalogue of Government incompetence. From security breaches over MTAS doctors training records, to the chaos over the tax credit system, this latest loss of personal and financial data is simply unbelievable. " The government's credibility on protecting basic information has been utterly destroyed and I simply cannot begin to understand how a system was allowed to operate that caused such a disastrous situation." Notes for Editors:Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has set up a Child Benefit Helpline on 0845 302 1444 for customers who want more details.Ends.
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