Mandarin fingerprints..

I've been reading the reports of HMRC's loss of two CD ROMs containing half the nation's bank account details with some incredulity. Not so much that it happened - that was just a matter of time - but of the sheer boldness of the bollox that has been uttered by senior politicians on the matter.

Asked if the incident now called the wisdom of the National ID card scheme into question Alistair "Teflon Tongue" Darling said "The data for the ID cards has biometric protection." Aha, so that's alright then.

What he actually meant to say was that if the lost disks had contained biometric data then a potential fraudster who got hold of them would have acquired the ability to digitally re-create the fingerprints of half the nation. Or is he just too stupid to realise that?