Category: Compensation
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Pushing the Neidle: “Don’t pay the tax now. Don’t take any step now, because I think there will be an exemption”
Nadhim Zahawi’s nemesis Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associates very kindly gave his time to appear on the latest episode of Investigating the Post Office Scandal. Dan got involved in this story after reading Tom Witherow’s 16 Feb article about Francis Duff in the Daily Mail. Mr Duff, a former Postmaster, was awarded £330,000 […]
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Isabella Wall
I was contacted by Gavin Wall in September last year in my role as a trustee of the Horizon Scandal Fund. Gavin’s mum Isabella had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. Isabella was one of the 555 litigants who took the Post Office to court and won in 2019. The fund provided some financial help […]
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Government ‘unveils’ compensation scheme for Subpostmasters in Bates v Post Office litigation
The government has announced some details of its compensation scheme for the civil claimants in the Bates v Post Office litigation. You can read the ‘process document’ here. The scheme will be run by BEIS, the government’s business department, and overseen by an ‘independent advisory board’ to ‘ensure the scheme works effectively’. Although there is […]
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How to destroy a business and a human being: Part 753.
In December last year, shortly after I’d published the hardback version of my book, I got an email from Lisa Kear. Lisa ran a Post Office counter within her “Pet Stop” shop in Belmont Sutton in South West London from April 2018 until November 2019. Lisa got in touch because she had read the book. […]
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The Compensation Catch
Last week Alan Bates stunned a small, but significant number of members of the Justice for Subpostmasters’ Alliance with a circular sent out on 12 September. The members concerned are a sub-group of the 555 claimants in Bates v Post Office who have what the government are terming ‘complex’ situations. There are about 100 of […]
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Treasury Announces Compensation for 555 Civil Litigants
After all the hints, it’s finally happened. On Tuesday 22 March 2022, a full two years and three months after the settlement of Bates v Post Office, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that all 555 claimants in that case will be properly compensated for their losses. Two years and two months ago, Alan Bates […]
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Chirag Sidhpura’s Closing Statement
I watched Chirag Sidhpura give evidence today. You can read about his story here, and in the live-tweets I put together whilst he was talking. At the end Chirag read out a prepared statement, which he has kindly shared with me (whilst also showing me how to work my new phone). Chirag is an extraordinarily […]
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“Good news” for the 555 “in the next few days”
This scandal has been characterised by many things, but one of the most striking is the absolute relentless determination of backbench MPs and peers to hold the government to account. To my mind, it is a racing certainty that without consistent pressure from parliamentarians of all stripes, the government would not have made available £1bn […]
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The £1bn Disaster
I recently got a call from a parliamentary friend – not an MP, but someone who works with MPs. He pointed me in the direction of a website I had never come across before. It lists grants made by the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS – which “owns” the Post Office) […]
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Post Office CEO in the Hot Seat
The continued unwillingness of any Post Office executive, past or present, to be interviewed by broadcast journalists on the subject of the Post Office Horizon scandal speaks volumes. We hacks are therefore wholly reliant on MPs to do the job for us. Execs can refuse journalists’ interview requests with impunity. It is rather more difficult […]