Honoured in the Breach

As the times continue turbulent, it's reassuring to observe that the relationship between Her Majesty's Government and its own data technology remains as happy as ever. The Ministry for Administrative Ministrations has been fined at least the price of a Commons frontbencher for broadcasting online the postal addresses of the 2020 New Year gongs-and-gladrags squad. Quite aside from necessitating the use of the verb ennobled in the same sentence as the name of Iain Duncan Smith, the error resulted in almost two and a half hours' public exposure for the personal data of over a thousand people, many of whose Ruritanian rah-rah may well have been paid for in good faith. Among those listed were senior counter-terrorism officers and employees of the Ministry for Wog-Bombing, so it is fortunate that there are still a few migrants and Muslims in the country who can afford to share the blame for any resulting national security mishaps with the beastly Russians, the perfidious Euro-wogs and the Heathen Chinee. Nevertheless, the Ministry for Administrative Ministrations has "completed an internal review" and "implemented a number of measures" (sacked a few juniors, in Oldspeak), and reiterated its determination to master, once and for all, those pesky Babbage recording engines.