I'm so tired of this problem. The BBC calculated that last year, the UK government had lost personal data on 4 million people. That's about 7% of the UK. We don't even have everyone on record yet, and they've lost that much.
Of course, the Home Secretary blames the private contractor, but that's just because they have one to blame. If this was all publicly run, she'd be the only person to blame. Somehow because she signed a contract with someone else, this exonerates her of responsibility.
Your government hates you. Please don't forget that.
Update 28th Aug, 08: It's been suggested to me that 'hate' is an overly strong word, and that it's unlikely that our government actually hates us. I still maintain it's not working in our best interest, at the very least though. Also, I get the last word ;-)