Confidential records and sensitive intelligence on tens of thousands of the country’s most prolific criminals have been lost in a major breach of data security at the heart of Whitehall.
Scotland Yard is investigating the loss of the information, which was taken from the Police National Computer and entrusted by the Home Office to a private consultancy firm.
The data had been encrypted for security reasons but was decoded by staff at PA Consulting Group and placed on a computer memory stick that was subsequently lost. The device contains personal details and intelligence on 33,000 serious offenders, dossiers on 10,000 “priority criminals” and the names and dates of birth of all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales. There is also information on an unspecified number of people enlisted on drug intervention programmes.
The Mail also leads with the same story,it says
The astonishing security blunder plunges Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who was told of the scandal on Tuesday, into the greatest crisis of her career.
Miss Smith informed the Metropolitan Police – who are now frantically hunting for the portable data storage device – but chose not to tell the public immediately.
It took the intervention of a whistleblower for details to emerge. The delay is likely to lead to damaging questions for the Home Secretary, whose mood last night was described by aides as 'livid'.
The population timebomb is the lead in the Independent
Dramatic evidence of Britain's rapidly ageing population emerged yesterday as figures showed that the number of pensioners now exceeds those under 16 for the first time.
The landmark demographic shift promises a future of pension shortfalls, a greater burden on the NHS and steadily increasing retirement ages. The research, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), was held up as proof of Britain's failure to prepare for an era when the over-80s represent the fastest-growing section of the population. The nation's make-up has shifted dramatically in 40 years
The Telegraph also leads with the story
There are 11.58 million pensioners - classed as men over 65 and women over 60 - compared to 11.52 million under-16s, according to the Office for National Statistics.The over 80s are now the fastest growing age group as a result of medical advances and their number is expected to continue rising sharply.
With life expectancy improving, the number of deaths recorded each year has dropped from 599,000 in 2001 to 571,000 last year.
The Express has a different story form the figures
1,650 NEW MIGRANTS INVADE UK EVERY DAY
The number of foreigners living here has risen by 1.1million in three years – enough to fill a city the size of Birmingham.
More than one person in 10 now living in the UK is foreign born. The number of people leaving the country has also reached unprecedented levels and nearly half of them are native Britons.
Statisticians had expected net immigration to have fallen by now but so huge is the influx that instead it is continuing to rise.
MI5 criticised for role in case of torture, rendition and secrecy reports the Guardian
MI5 participated in the unlawful interrogation of a British resident now held in Guantánamo Bay, the high court found yesterday in a judgment raising serious questions about the conduct of Britain's security and intelligence agencies.the paper adds that
One MI5 officer was so concerned about incriminating himself that he initially declined to answer questions from the judges even in private, the judgment reveals. Though the judges say "no adverse conclusions" should be drawn by the MI5 officer's plea against self-incrimination, they disclose that the officer, Witness B, was questioned about alleged war crimes under the international criminal court act, including torture. The full evidence surrounding Witness B's evidence, and the judges' findings, remain secret.
There is still much coverage of the Spanish air crash,the Independent reports that
Angry relatives demanded justice yesterday as Spanish investigators combed through the wreckage of the plane that crashed in Madrid's airport on Wednesday, killing 153.
"I'll kill the bastards who did this" shouted one man outside the convention centre near the airport that has been set up as a temporary mass mortuary. Another bereaved and weeping relative, asked angrily: "If they knew the plane was faulty, why did they let it fly?"
Spanair officials confirmed that the pilot aborted his first take-off attempt after noticing that an air intake under the cockpit window was overheating. Javier Mendoza, the airline’s deputy managing director, said that the problem was treated and corrected by maintenance personnel, who switched off power to the intake – standard procedure for the McDonnell Douglas MD82 aircraft.says the Times
The Telegraph reports that
A victim of the Madrid air disaster told his wife before take-off that there was something wrong with the plane but was refused permission to get off, it has been claimed
The same paper reports on the latest hikes in energy prices
More than 14 million households are facing a rise of up to £260 in their energy bills after two leading suppliers increased their prices.
The increases mean millions of cash-strapped families will pay almost £1,300 a year for gas and electricity.
E.ON is raising electricity prices by 16 per cent and gas prices by 26 per cent while Scottish and Southern Energy is increasing electricity by 19.2 per cent and gas by 29.2 per cent.
Record A and A* results as schools refine entries says the Guardian
Pupils received record GCSE results yesterday with the proportion of top grades - more than one in five GCSEs was awarded an A or A* - rising at the fastest rate in nearly 20 years.
Experts suggested that the rise was linked to a sharp fall in entries as schools refined the subjects candidates were entered for to achieve the five good grades per pupil required to move up the league tables.
The Mail reports that
Top schools are abandoning GCSEs in favour of courses that better stretch the brightest amid the biggest rise in top grades for 20 years.
Teenagers celebrated record-breaking results yesterday after passing more than one in five exams at grades A* and A and scoring Cs or better in two thirds.
But thousands more bright pupils than last year were excluded from the figures because their schools put them in for courses similar to old O-levels instead
The Sun reports on a tradegy on results day
A MODEL schoolboy plunged 60ft to his death after a hoodie gang stamped on his fingers as he clung to a tower block balcony rail.
Innocent Ahmed Benyermak, 16, died hours before he was due to pick up his GCSE results yesterday, which showed he passed all NINE subjects he took. Residents in the block heard a scream of terror and a sickening thud before seeing the teenager’s body sprawled on grass below.
The mob had been pursuing another boy — but turned to chase Ahmed when he saw the face of a hoodie clasping a knife.
Brown makes surprise trip to Afghanistan reports the Guardian
The prime minister flew into Kabul after visiting British troops at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, where he said soldiers were preventing terrorism from hitting the streets of Britain, and likened them to Olympic heroes.
The visit, the prime minister's second since he took office last year, came days after 10 French troops were killed in fierce fighting with the Taliban near Kabul. Three Polish troops were also killed this week, along with British Corporal Barry Dempsey from The Royal Highland Fusiliers. Yesterday it was confirmed a further three Canadian soldiers had been killed by a roadside bomb in Zhari district, west of the southern city of Kandahar.
The Telegraph reports that
Two suicide bombers have killed at least 59 people in Pakistan as part of an escalating campaign of violence, in a serious blow to the country's stability. and adds that
The bombers detonated the explosives almost simultaneously outside two gates of the large factory complex in the northern town of Wah, near the capital, Islamabad.
It is one of the country's most sensitive military installations.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the blasts, in revenge for military operations.
The Independent reports that Syria seeks weapons deal with Russia amid 'Cold War' ripples
The arms talks between the Syrian and Russian presidents in the Black Sea resort of Sochi were the most public illustration of how alliances are shifting as a result of the war.
President Bashar al-Assad had flirted with the West of late and was a guest of honour at France's Bastille Day parade last month. Before the Georgia war, the West had high hopes of prising him away from Syria's key ally Iran, which the US accuses of supporting Islamic militants.
The Times reports that Surgeons prepare for world’s first full-face transplant
Three years after the world’s first partial face transplant, significant progress has been made with two further successful operations.
A 30-year-old man who had part of his face torn off by a bear and another with a disfiguring tumour have had their quality of life transformed after partial transplants using tissue from deceased or comatose donors, surgeons in China and France report.
The trials of Gary Glitter continue to attract the attention of the Press,the Sun reports
POP pariah Gary Glitter was duped into clambering aboard a London plane last night after a slick trick finally saw him deported. The paedophile’s face “fell like a ton of bricks” after delighted officials told him his farcical hunt for a new bolthole had failed.
Crestfallen Glitter, 64, told UK officials he would “go quietly”.
Finally the Independent reports that
A bookmaker has turned down an attempt by a mystery punter to place £40,000 on a rank outsider in the race to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster..the paper adds
The unlikely bet, proposed last week to the Dublin-based betting company, was the most outlandish in an unexpected flurry of bets being placed on the runners and riders to replace the cardinal, who is expected to retire at the end of the year
The 13-8 clear favourite in the race is the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Birmingham, who is credited with scoring several propaganda victories over the Government in recent years, particularly on the issue of faith schools.
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