Archives :
Inquiry
-
The taxi for Paula Vennells which never quite came
A powerpoint slide deck was the most newsworthy element to leap out of former Post Office chair Alice Perkins’ second day of evidence at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry today. Thanks to an anonymous nine-page presentation, we know that in February 2014 the government was tempted to sack Post Office CEO Paula Vennells because…
-
Perkins in Wonderland: Day 1
The Post Office scandal did not happen, or get covered up because of a single Machiavellian baddie. It happened because a bunch of serially incompetent people spent oodles of other people’s cash groping their way around a crisis without the competence or moral backbone to do the right thing. Alice Perkins, Chair of the Post…
-
Perkins Preview: what secrets will Lady Humphrey reveal?
Alice Perkins was Chairman of the Post Office for four years between 2011 and 2015. She got the job after a career spent in the civil service. One of the people who ostensibly worked for her during that period told me Perkins was “patronising… wooden and inarticulate”, complaining she “couldn’t connect with people at all……
-
Grey Day gives little away
Chris Day, former Post Office Chief Financial Office had all the hallmarks of a low-wattage witness. He met that expectation square on. I think I was the only journalist present today. More fool me. Taken at snail’s pace through multiple documents we’ve seen before, Day was unable to see the real risks in the Horizon…
-
Paula Vennells and Mark Davies: Led by the (brown) nose
In his witness statement to the public inquiry, former Post Office Director of Communications Mark Davies claimed Paula Vennells acted with “integrity and care” when dealing with the issues raised by campaigning Subpostmasters. In the same statement he states Vennells is a woman of “deep integrity” who is “guided by deeply held personal values.” On…
-
Vennells Day 2: Cover-up finally acknowledged
During her evidence to the Inquiry today Paula Vennells finally admitted there was cover-up at the Post Office on her watch. Counsel to the Inquiry Jason Beer took her to a letter dated 12 July 2013. It was from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the statutory body which investigates potential miscarriages of justice in…
-
Vennells Day 1: the Five Things we learned
Right then. Not volunteering more than she had to The fact that despite protesting several times she approached the inquiry with “integrity” in a spirit of wanting to tell the “complete truth” Paula Vennells appeared to be attempting a sleight of hand from the off. Jason Beer KC (who asked questions on behalf of the…
-
The Post Office’s “caring” side
The other story to come out of today’s evidence (21 May 2024) took us away from inability of Alwen Lyons to see herself as anything other than a helpful facilitator of Post Office business and Second Sight’s investigation into the Post Office business. It concerns a couple of emails sent by Post Office Head of…
-
Former Post Office General Counsel Refuses to Cooperate with Inquiry
On Wed 8 May, I mentioned (in parentheses) during my live-tweets of Brian Altman KC’s evidence: “This provokes a conference in BA’s chambers and a letter from the new GC Jane McLoed (who I understand might be resisting the request she give evidence to the inquiry and given she lives abroad, cannot be compelled to…
-
Ismay: the Idiot Returns
Rod Ismay’s role in the Post Office was senior – he finished as Head of Product and Branch Accounting reporting directly to the Chief Finance Officer. He appears to have taken a leading, or as Jason Beer KC would have it “co-ordinating” role in responding to Horizon challenges throughout his career at the Post Office.…