GOVERNMENT LOSE OVER 1,000 LAPTOPS AND PHONES

12.00.00am GMT Tue 4th Mar 2008

Over a thousand government laptops and mobile phones have been lost or stolen, according to figures revealed by the Liberal Democrats.

The Department of Justice and its predecessors had the worst figures, having lost 342 laptops and mobiles since 2001.

Commenting, Jenny Willott, Lib Dem Shadow Spokesman for Justice and MP for Cardiff Central, said:

"Labour has a shameful record of recklessness with citizens' data.

"The question everyone wants answered now is whether these laptops contained personal information on members of the public?

"The bill for all this equipment, which the tax payer has to cover, is likely to run into several hundred thousand pounds.

"These figures hammer home the message that we need an urgent rethink over the way electronic data is protected."