That’s what I read, as the background to the latest example of government security ineptitude emerges! It seems that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has no idea of the value of UK Passports on the black market – £1,700 each is what I read.
Even though the stolen passports are of the newer ‘chipped’ version, I bet that the forgers are going to have a field day with these. I wonder how long it will take for these to be used by various undesirables to enter into the EU, maybe some will be caught entering the UK, but as we all know the variation in the way that EU borders are controlled is not universal across all EU countries.
What was the FCO thinking? Transporting these ‘valuable’ ID documents in a non-security van using staff that thought more about their dietary and reading needs than in the security of their cargo. Next we’ll find out that in fact it was TNT that were the shippers!
Instead of spending the reported £20 billion on the new ID card system, the government needs to look inwards again and get a grip on data and document security. It is failing badly.
Beasley's Place 