Both the Guardian and thisislondon.co.uk feature quotes from his mother (a fairly reputable source, I’d think) that he did indeed fail his intital exams, but passed (if that’s what you can call a 2:2) on a resit.

And other than ‘going to pot’, what would you call a system which was 1) over budget, 2) ineffective and 3) well past its due date?

I don’t smoke, by the way.

Govt IT Expert

Again, the exact reason for this database eludes me. How much effort will this save on behalf of the investigators who are hypothetically investigating a crime? Surely the marginal benefits are outweighed by the very real danger of crackers stealing information on the entire population of Britain? Because breaking that system would surely bring e-fame for whoever accomplished it, I’d imagine there’ll be some people out there who would want to try.

What really worries me is the ramifications this proposal holds for the rest of Europe if it goes through. With the Lisbon treaty soon to be voted upon in Ireland (and I don’t think a no vote is looking too probable), all countries in the union will have their rights to self govern eroded. If Britian has allowed this to go ahead, there’s going to be precedence set by one of the EU’s leaders. The rest of us won’t be far behind.

Interesting times.