...it's forecast to snow in the midlands....

Rumours just in is that it was mixed with a small amount of tipex and used to coat snowflakes onto the office windows as part of the decroate an office for xmas competition. Although events were marred this year by a group of house-flies that were seen beating up a cat outside the office in the carpark and a office cleaner bouncing around in the swing doors for over half an hour.

That HMRC are headhunting the now redundant Steve Mclaren for a management role after his exemplary record in loosing key matches.

HMRC may have organised themselves a white Christmas

I wonder whenever they're going to bring in random drugs testing for Government employees so that we can know those dependent on and slaves to Charlie and his mates. They certainly can act as if they are out of their heads and aint that the truth.

Oh yes, that'd be the nose AJAX. I'll get my coat...

Where is your one? Why it was sent to me, along with your NI number and bank details....;-)

Less than ten people knew the password to a cageful of dangerous drugs? What an outrage! I am apoplectic! Less than ten people? It's FEWER! FEWER than ten people! Can we get nothing right?

True. If only HMRC hadn't mislaid their record of which ten had the password.

Just look for whichever members of staff are partying the hardest over xmas... and just check to see if they've bought a new Ferrari, too...

Rather like the month of PHP exploits, one per day, it seems like December 2007 is striving to be "How many embarrassing losses can we admit in one month?" for the government. Priceless.

Combine with Fasthosts resetting customers passwords about three times and it's been a comical month for El Reg ;)

Apparently the passwords were sent out to key officials on CD-Rs in the post.

it's not around any more but I am sure it was put to it's normally accepted use, also maybe they sold the data to get more coke. It's all starting to make sense to me now all those pompous trunks in the nervous powder making pathetic excuses a child wouldn't believe and stealing everything that isn't nailed down.

The culprit is the one who returns to work after Christmas with only one nostril.

I reckon that someone's taken it out to trade for a couple of used CDs.......

El Reg isn't nesecarrily wrong with their calculations, you did ask them how much they were cutting it and what with. We know how they can be harsh critics, prehaps their harsh drug dealers as well and cut it mean at 30/70.

(jumping up and down on the spot dying to get my coat, thengoingoutforapartysomewhere, needtodosomething, needtotalkcodshit)

So why did they have it there in the first place? - after all, HMRC are not the police, they are not MI5, nor MI6, and they're not staffed by celebs, surely they were breaking the law by storing it!.....

One does not LOSE 1.5 kg of cocaine. Keys get lost (not cars), socks get lost (not feet), people get lost (especially if they go wondering into some parts of Glasgow on a Saturday night) - I bloody wish that Gordon Brown would get lost.

But NOBODY loses 1.5 kg cocaine. It simpy CANNOT happen.

It can be stolen (presumably by one or more of the "magic 10"), it can be sold, it can be cut and sold (as so eloquently posted above). But it does not, no matter how much of it has been sneeked off for personal use, open it's own lock from the inside and then march back to Bolivia.

TBH all 10 should be immediately suspended (without pay) until the culprit is identified or the security lapse uncovered. Come to think of it, that same approach would save our dear country £billions (and a good few RW-CD's)

I tell you what, ask all ten whether they removed the stash. If they all deny it, it's theft. If one says 'oh I had to submit it to court x as evidence in case y, sorry I didn't sign it out', it isn't theft.

Or is this too taxing? (No pun intended)

the government lost for me 12 Million bank details, 11 Million personal details, 10 people with a password, 9 Thousand lines of cocaine, 8 Junior Workers, 7 Million Illegal Immigrants, 60 billion odd quid to northern rock , 5 hundred thousand Scots votes, 4 dodgy donations , 3 Million driving license records, 2 CD's. and an HMRC chairman.

Ding Dong, Merrily and High !!!

the government's ears are ringing

Pissed up agents drawing nigh

for those CD's they're searching

co-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-caine, some-mo-oh-ore cocaine, and just some more cocaine - a line

Let's waste it on the bankers.

I feel these Christmas Ditties need a reg article to themselves. I was just trying to beat some of the suggestions on the BBC Cricket page as I read about England getting thrashed by Sri Lanka. Surely El Reg can do better than a bunch of cricket fans.

Wasn't there a monkey that chased a weasle?

Concaine? That's Chilli Concaine, is it?

Fa la la la la la, la la la la.

A. Those 10 password holders? They haven't asked because HMRC has lost the list of their names, and no longer knows who they are.

B. Or: It wasn't a password, it was a 3-digit number to activate a keypad controlled lock. And someone simply tried one combination after another. Remember, Richard Feynman was able to unlock "secure" safes at Los Alamos for amusement.

Perhaps we should invent a shorthand unit for dissapation (instead of milliwats per nano wales) we should have the HMRC as they are so good at loosing things, 1 HMRC would be the details of 1 million people) so this I guess this little mishap with the nasal funky flour would be about a milliHMRC.