British Post Office Scandal

[El Cid]

The problems started in 1999 and all those convicted still havnt been cleared or settled on full compensation.

Has anyone you know been affected? Its back in the news because of the ITV show. Is that a change from BBC or channel 4/5 doing the investagive shows?

 

Horizon is the outcome of the Pathway project, whose procurement process commenced in August 1994, and announced by social security minister Peter Lilley at the 1995 Conservative Party conference.

 

The lady in charge got an MBE, in Boris Johnsons 2019 New Year Honours, how rediculous.

I cannot see her going to jail, but surely someone has done wrong and should be brought to account?

In April 2012, Paula Vennells became CEO of the Post Office, she was also an Anglican priest!!

 

I was reading that the head of the Post Office at the time is now head of ITV, but that wasnt mentioned, Adam Crozier (2003–2010) would it be wrong to hold him to account?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

[Axe]

5 hours ago, El Cid said:

The problems started in 1999 and all those convicted still havnt been cleared or settled on full compensation.

Has anyone you know been affected? Its back in the news because of the ITV show. Is that a change from BBC or channel 4/5 doing the investagive shows?

 

Horizon is the outcome of the Pathway project, whose procurement process commenced in August 1994, and announced by social security minister Peter Lilley at the 1995 Conservative Party conference.

 

The lady in charge got an MBE, in Boris Johnsons 2019 New Year Honours, how rediculous.

I cannot see her going to jail, but surely someone has done wrong and should be brought to account?

In April 2012, Paula Vennells became CEO of the Post Office, she was also an Anglican priest!!

 

I was reading that the head of the Post Office at the time is now head of ITV, but that wasnt mentioned, Adam Crozier (2003–2010) would it be wrong to hold him to account?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

The lady got  her CBE before the Subpostmasters Alliance won the High Court case. 

[altus]

5 minutes ago, Axe said:

The lady got  her CBE before the Subpostmasters Alliance won the High Court case. 

But many, many years after the scandal had come to light.

[Axe]

5 minutes ago, altus said:

But many, many years after the scandal had come to light.

The scandal only became believed after the High Court Case.

[altus]

27 minutes ago, Axe said:

The scandal only became believed after the High Court Case.

The High Court case were judgements were made before Johnson's 2019 new years honours list was announced?

 

Even if you are going to claim the Post Office hadn't finished appealing all the High Court's judgements, they would have been known about and it would have made sense to delay giving any honours until everything had been cleared up to avoid embarrassment to the PM.

[Axe]

10 minutes ago, altus said:

The High Court case were judgements were made before Johnson's 2019 new years honours list was announced?

 

Even if you are going to claim the Post Office hadn't finished appealing all the High Court's judgements, they would have been known about and it would have made sense to delay giving any honours until everything had been cleared up to avoid embarrassment to the PM.

Stop contributing nonsense.  The  2019 New Year's Honours list was announced in 2018 just before News Year's Eve.  The High Court Judgement was made in December 2019 nearly a year after the lady received her CBE.

[altus]

5 minutes ago, Axe said:

Stop contributing nonsense.  The  2019 New Year's Honours list was announced in 2018 just before News Year's Eve.  The High Court Judgement was made in December 2019 nearly a year after the lady received her CBE.

Oops, my bad. However, there were plenty of judgements in the High Court before that date that should have given cause for concern.

[El Cid]

14 hours ago, Axe said:

The scandal only became believed after the High Court Case.

Strange how we have had all these investigations and it has taken a drama to get the MET Police investigation.

 

On 26 February 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to hold an independent inquiry. The Metropolitan Police initiated a criminal investigation into Post Office Limited in early 2020.

During the non-statutory inquiry, two public hearings were held in early 2021.

 

BBC Panorama investigation into the Post Office scandal.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016t20

 

Adam Crozier, CEO of Royal Mail (2003–10)  is conspicuous by his absence from Mr Bates V The Post Office, he is now CEO of BT.

 

The 'Clarke Advice(2013) was pivotal in the Court of Appeal's finding that ... the Post Office was engaged in conduct that constituted an abuse of the process of the court and calculated to subvert the integrity of the criminal justice system or undermine public confidence in it.

[Axe]

23 minutes ago, El Cid said:

Strange how we have had all these investigations and it has taken a drama to get the MET Police investigation.

 

On 26 February 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to hold an independent inquiry. The Metropolitan Police initiated a criminal investigation into Post Office Limited in early 2020.

During the non-statutory inquiry, two public hearings were held in early 2021.

 

BBC Panorama investigation into the Post Office scandal.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0016t20

 

Adam Crozier, CEO of Royal Mail (2003–10)  is conspicuous by his absence from Mr Bates V The Post Office, he is now CEO of BT.

 

The 'Clarke Advice(2013) was pivotal in the Court of Appeal's finding that ... the Post Office was engaged in conduct that constituted an abuse of the process of the court and calculated to subvert the integrity of the criminal justice system or undermine public confidence in it.

When Boris Johnson announced a public inquiry that was only two months after the High Court Judgement ruled against the Post Office.  These things do to take time.  The Police were involved before this week investigating perjury but now have started to investigate fraud.

 

What is strange and unfair is how the Post Office had the authority to carry out their own criminal investigations against the Postmasters  which the courts accepted in the same way as if the police had carried out the investigations.  That is the root of the scandal.

[altus]

From The Post Office cover up, part 2: They wanted it all to go away:

Quote

The government has always distanced itself from the Post Office's handling of the Horizon scandal, repeating the tedious mantra that although the Post Office is publicly-owned, it: 

"operates as an independent, commercial business within the strategic parameters set by government.”

But that's not all the story. The mask first slipped on 23 May 2019 at the High Court when the Post Office tried to delay paying legal costs to the claimants after losing the first trial. The Post Office QC gave as a reason: 

"It is a question of arranging the funds...  and talking to our shareholder about it."

This contrast baldly with a government statement statement issued in January this year:

"government did not play a day-to-day role in the litigation or on the contractual and operational matters that were at the heart of it."

Talking to the government about the timing of a litigation payment is precisely a day-to-day operational matter.

When I presented this "arm's length, independent" plop to the senior Post Office insider who helped inform my work on this year's File on 4, Private Eye and Radio 4 series, they nearly spat out their drink with laughter. 

The insider told me that whilst they were there, Post Office staff with varying levels of seniority were running in and out of BIS the whole time. They also told me that culturally, within the Post Office, senior management priorities revolved around what the government wanted. What the government wanted, I was told, to the exclusion of almost anything else, was for the Post Office to become profitable.

Given that problems with the Horizon system first appeared over 20 years ago, all governments, including Labour ones, would have been aware of the issues with the system through their representatives overseeing the organisation.