Head taxman resigns

The Chairman of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has resigned. Rumour has it that this relates to a breach of data security, involving the records of 7.5 million child benefits claimants. The Chancellor will be giving a statement to the House of Commons later today.

Hmm. And this is the Government that keeps trying all means to get its hands on our data? How secure is any data that we give to this Government?

I have queried in the past the wisdom of requiring a tax collection authority to pay out benefits. The taxman knows more about collecting money than about paying it out, so getting him to administer child benefits was always going to be tricky. That aside, a security breach is a security breach. It could still have happened even if the taxman wasn't administering benefits (ie it could still have happened in the course of the taxman's handling of taxpayers' records), but the extra role as benefits administrator only made it even more likely.

As a side point, it's a bit strange these days to see a honourable resignation.

Will write more after hearing what the Chancellor has to say.