25 million peoples tax records go missing in the post!

[Analoguesat]

Two crucial CDs with 25 million people's tax details on them have been lost in the post, the Chancellor has admitted.

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. The Prime Minister has expressed his "full confidence" in the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is understood the missing discs may contain personal data, including the names, National Insurance and bank details of millions of child benefit recipients.

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 perational failure in the Department. "This is not the way I would have planned to organise my departure from HMRC." Conservative member of the House of Commons Treasury Committee Michael Fallon told Sky News no one knew why Mr Gray had resigned.

"I assume it was a matter of honour that he decided to stand down immediately. It is a good example and should be followed more widely."
If it was the case that peoples' details had been lost, he said, Chancellor Alistair Darling would be 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. Sky News' Political Editor Adam Boulton said the implications for the Treasury were very serious. "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."
"There is the issue of confidence in the Government, a government that is trying to set up a computerised ID card scheme for every citizen," he added.

"This kind of information failure very much damages the credibility of those efforts." 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." Chancellor Alistair Darling is making a statement in the House of Commons about HMCR.

Yahoo News

[Analoguesat]

If anyone finds them theres a nice man in Lagos interested in them

[brian]

I laughed, then realised my family details are all on that listed.

Every family with kids under 16 years old...

[Yorks]

I'm disturbed - oh I think you already know that.

[wasp11]

Search ebay for them, and make sure seller sends them recorded delivery

[diapason]

There were also NHS Pension Scheme discs lost in the post and according to Teletext, they have turned up at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow, from where they were allegedly sent - wonder if all this is because of the postal strike and they're all sitting in Springburn sorting office - or will we all be getting a nice pork and ham e-mail from Nat West again and again??