Local Lib Dems Concerned by Data Loss

12.06.00pm GMT Thu 17th Jan 2008

New Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg is leading the battle to end the ID cards scheme. Liberal Democrats in Walthamstow are right behind him.

Local Liberal Democrats have expressed their concern about the most recent loss of personal data records, this time from Whipps Cross hospital, and repeated their call for the Labour government to abandon plans to make people carry identity cards.

Your local Lib Dem team spoke out after party Leader Nick Clegg MP published figures showing that 37 million pieces of personal information on UK citizens were lost in 2007, mostly by the Government.

The news came in the same week as confidential patient records from Whipps Cross hospital were found on a Hertfordshire roadside, sparking concern amongst Walthamstow residents.

Walthamstow councillors have claimed that such a massive loss of confidential information demonstrated that the Government could not be trusted with successfully administering an ID Card scheme:

"The expensive identity cards scheme is based on the government storing large amounts of information about each one of us on a central database. This most recent loss of data from Whipps Cross simply demonstrates yet again that, no matter how securely or professionally such information is handled, there will always be breaches of security when enormous banks of personal data are created.

"For the Government to pretend otherwise is either misleading or incredibly naïve.

"In 2007 the Government stumbled from one data loss crisis to another. The worst example came in November when the Government lost the personal details of all 25 million families with children. That has put the privacy of every family in Waltham Forest at risk.

Your local Liberal Democrats successfully led a motion last year against the Labour group on Waltham Forest Council, calling on their councillors to denounce the ID Card scheme. The Lib Dem motion was passed, forcing Labour into an embarrassing climb down as the Council was affiliated to the 'NO2ID' campaign against their wishes.

The motion exposed divisions within the local Labour party, as councillors who had previously stated their OPPOSITION to ID Cards voted FOR the scheme in the council chamber.

Walthamstow Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, have promised to continue to lead the local fight against the plans, praising Nick Clegg's pledge that he would refuse to sign up to any ID Card scheme.

"We are delighted that the new Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg is leading the battle to end the ID cards scheme. Liberal Democrats in Waltham Forest are right behind him.

"The scheme will be a bureaucratic nightmare. It won't prevent illegal working. It won't help stop crime or terrorism. If this Labour government really wants to make an impact on crime, terrorism and illegal immigration, the money it has earmarked for this scheme would be far better spent on more police and intelligence officers. That is what the Liberal Democrats would do."