Jason;
Another way to look at it is that,SCUM ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP!

here here. i agree totally. Whichever little kid on that boat who lost that drive should be shot. in fact, the captain of that boat should probably be shot also for letting the little tyke sneak off the boat in the first place. we can't trust these children fighting wars with any confidential information.

but is there something about British government that lowers everyone's collective IQ?

Seems like there might be a correlation between having a government job and being an idiot.

People lose them. They don't lose themselves. People need to be held accountable for things they hold in trust. People need to have adequate reasons to put the information on a flash drive in the first place.

It's about people failing in their duties and obligations, not about drives going missing.