Am I alone in finding it a bit weird that all these files should be left on trains all of a sudden? Why would officials be carrying files around in any case when they can so easily be sent by email?

Am I being paranoid to detect the whiff of some hidden agenda or other?

You are quite right Violinia. It's to take away attention from something more important that the powers that be don't want us to know or talk about.
Bev.

Yes - I thought it was bit odd too.

Sending classified files by email leaves an audit trail which may be picked up by those responsible for enforcing security procedures. Taking them home in a brief case doesn't.

Once is careless. Twice, so soon after the first? I don't think so.

Maybe some of them happened earlier, and were kept a secret, so they are just revealing everything that has gone wrong now while public opinion can't get any lower? Rather than leave it until closer to elections and then it being found out...?

Possibly they didn't were avoiding use of computers because of the loss of the CD in order that similar problems didn't occur (e.g. sending the e-mail to the wrong person by accident or something silly like that), but then it all went wrong anyway. And as primrose said, computers leave a trail, can be hacked, and even when disposed of can be prised for information. Papers, providing they are all burnt, cannot be traced or the information still seen.

~Wobby~

like rising prices, tanker driver strikes, rail strikes, increases in 'binge' drinking, increased taxes like we have never had before, inability to govern... all those things we shouldn't know about because it makes the government look incompetent ??


Violinia, you seem to be hitting upon topics that really hit home
well done.

Violinia for PM yay!

Surely the government would want to cover up such dangerous incompetence as leaving classified information on trains (that's the sort of thing I do, though fortunately I've never been put in charge of anything more classified than a shopping list).
These are two lapses which have come to light: how many others have gone unreported?

I don't often stick up for the Government, but you can't really blame them if civil servants ignore the rules about what you can and can't do with classified information. I think it's more interesting to ask why civil servants do things that are likely to land them in trouble. One possible answer is that, because of London property prices, they have to live so far from the office that they can't face commuting in every day, and therefore have to take their work home.

guess there isn't much leadership example from the top though... not really much integrity displayed - so in that way maybe civil servants can't be expected to show anything but dishonesty and deceit?