-
What were they thinking?
Whilst the Post Office was prosecuting Subpostmasters for crimes they didn’t commit, it was also asking its investigators if their suspects were “Negroid Types”. This was as recently as 2008. The document (which you can read here) has come to light as a result of diligent and tenacious FOI work by Eleanor Shaikh. In its…
-
Racist ID codes. When did they leave the Met?
On 2 June 2023 I sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Metropolitan Police, London’s police force. I asked: “Could you tell me when the police stopped using the word “negroid” in its racial identification codes? Please can you supply me with documentation supporting this?” To give the Met’s FOI department some context,…
-
Lisa Busch, unsung legal hero of the Post Office scandal dies and The Kemi Badenoch Show comes to the Inquiry
Morning Some very sad news. Lisa Busch KC has died after a short illness. Lisa is one of the unsung heroes of the Post Office scandal. This blog post explains her role in the Hamilton appeals in 2021. I got to know Lisa subsequently, and she was just lovely. A very compassionate and bright woman.…
-
New: HCAB demands quashing of all Capture convictions
Good morning from murky Dublin! I spent yesterday afternoon addressing the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland on the subject of corporate governance at the Aviva stadium, or as most people know it, Lansdowne Road. Last time I was in Dublin, Taylor Swift was playing the Aviva stadium. We could hear her as we walked…
-
Remote Focus on Foat
Hello there Today’s Inquiry hearing started at 9am this morning, which necessitated an early start. I managed to fight my way through the commuters to Aldwych House in London, which was more that today’s witness, Ben Foat, Post Office General Counsel, managed. As you can see from the screenshot above, Foat gave evidence remotely. If…
-
Post Office Inquiry – End of Storey, Another compensation scheme announced for long-suffering Subpostmasters and Otley reminder
Hi everyone I hope you’re surviving the heat. I know I’ve been doing a lot of moaning about the Inquiry recently, but the hearing room’s rather fierce aircon was welcome today. Former Post Office non-executive Susannah Storey was the last witness before summer break. She seemed bright, capable and was either blessed or cursed with…
-
Ghost Storey
Usually when thinking about how to write a summary of the day’s evidence, there are one or two moments or lines which have made an impression. I’m struggling to think of anything Susannah Storey said during today’s session worth reporting. I realise I’m not exactly selling what you’re about to read, but it did feel…
-
Post Office Inquiry: McFadden and Davey
Good morning I managed to put up two blog posts yesterday – one on Pat “Magic” McFadden – former Post Office minister and current Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the second on Sir Ed Davey – former Post Office minister and current leader of the Liberal Democrats. McFadden gave evidence to the Post…
-
Davey briefed to dismiss Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance Concerns in 2010
The first meeting between Alan Bates from the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) and a government minister took place on 5 October 2010. Ed Davey was, at the time, the Liberal Democrat minister responsible for the Post Office within the coalition government. The date was crucial: the trial of Seema Misra was less than a…
-
Poor Tom
Tom Cooper was pitched into the Post Office madness quite late in the scandal. He joined UK Government Investments in 2017, and became UKGI’s man on the Post Office board in March 2018 whilst it was already embroiled in litigation with with its Subpostmasters and careering towards the first of two disastrous High Court trials.…