The sub-postmasters scandal

[tobyjugg2]

Update

"On Monday night, Staunton issued a stinging riposte to Badenoch, saying he had kept a record of the alleged comment from a senior civil servant asking him to stall compensation payments to Horizon victims.

A spokesperson for Staunton said he “recorded [it] at the time in a file note, which he emailed to himself and to colleagues and which is therefore traceable on the Post Office server”."

[honeybee13]

I think Badenough could have a problem as Staunton seems to have kept the receipts.

Some people are giving her until the end of the week before it all goes to worms.

[Xerzes]

Just want to add my two penneth, as I'm bored at work today, so thought I'd comment.

(Background: I'm apolitical - I think both Labour & Tories are both two cheeks of the same arse! No dog in the fight with either).

However, I think for many reasons there's a special place in Hell for Kemi.

On a more general point, what has happened to the general quality of our politicians these days? Like Obama said back in the day on first meeting David "The Lord" Cameron - "Jeez this guy's a lightweight!"

Maybe it's due to "Spitting Image" in the 80's, but even as a kid, I could name most of the cabinet - like them or loathe them, at least they had a sense of gravitas and statesmanship. 

I couldn't name half the cabinet now - and those I see seem self-serving "Animal Farm" biggest pig at the trough, all out to feather their nests and with integrity of double-glazing salesmen. Oily, slippery, base.

Badenoch is a case in point - how unministerial to conduct "Twitter spats" and basically act like a petulant child saying I'll come for you, Hourton, you lying sack o' ^^^^! She honestly comes across as someone who should be running a nail salon somewhere in Ipswich rather than a heavyweight minister who should rise above such language/responses.

I truly feel these days the quote by Ripley in Aliens applies to the UK now - "Take off and nuke the site from orbit... it's the only way to be sure!"  

(And before anyone takes me to task on Badenoch saying I'm racist or misogynistic, no - I equally despise Wez Streeting for Labour - and he's a fat white middle-class Piers Morgan just like me!  

Edited to add - ha! I love the autocorrect you got going there with the Piers Morgan. Chapeau!

 

Edited February 20 by Xerzes

[tobyjugg2]

42 minutes ago, Xerzes said:

On a more general point, what has happened to the general quality of our politicians these days? Like Obama said back in the day on first meeting David "The Lord" Cameron - "Jeez this guy's a lightweight!"

 

Maybe it's due to "Spitting Image" in the 80's, but even as a kid, I could name most of the cabinet - like them or loathe them, at least they had a sense of gravitas and statesmanship. 

I couldn't name half the cabinet now - and those I see seem self-serving "Animal Farm" biggest pig at the trough, all out to feather their nests and with integrity of double-glazing salesmen. Oily, slippery, base.

 

Badenoch is a case in point - how unministerial to conduct "Twitter spats" and basically act like a petulant child saying I'll come for you, Hourton, you lying sack o' ^^^^! She honestly comes across as someone who should be running a nail salon somewhere in Ipswich rather than a heavyweight minister who should rise above such language/responses.

 

+11111111111111111111

Not even competent liars - or more likely since Johnson  they just dont care

 

Edited February 20 by tobyjugg2

[Xerzes]

27 minutes ago, tobyjugg2 said:

+11111111111111111111

Not even competent liars - or more likely since Johnson  they just dont care

 

Agreed. I think we're seeing a "fire sale" here - Tories know there's nothing they can do to win next election, so are basically just trying to send as much money to the private sector on the promise of future "directorships" after the election.

However, I'm equally cheesed off with Labour, and Starmer in particular who seem to be running a "Tory-lite" campaign based around the mantra - "hey you guys, vote for us because.... because.... erm.... because at least we're not THEM!"

The whole situation is very depressing. Because we have a First Passed the Post system, a vote for any other party is simply wasted. Might make me feel better in the booth when I place my X,  but is still an essentially wasted vote, (especially in the safe seat where I live).

FPTP - "passed" or "past"? - My spelling, like the govt. has gone right down the gurgler these days! 

 

Edited February 20 by Xerzes

[tobyjugg2]

Not them, Tory lite

Even just that sounds like a big step up - with at least the hope of even better

Edited February 20 by tobyjugg2

[Xerzes]

45 minutes ago, tobyjugg2 said:

Not them, Tory lite

Even just that sounds like a big step up - with at least the hope of even better

It's all very depressing. 
If you take the long view of thousands of years of history, there's clearly a pattern of nations/empires rising and falling.

Once it was the Egyptians,

Once the Greeks,

Romans,

Chinese,

"The West", etc.

Clearly we are in decline in the natural ebb and flow of things.

I doubt there's anything we can do about it.

We were massive colonialists and ruled the seas.

Now all those people want to come back here. And their own economies in the East are slowly rising again.

Our time is done.

I'm not happy about that, but you can't argue with history, like King Canut couldn't shout at the tide.

Even on a planetary scale - ice ages come; global heat ages come. For us to even think we have a hand in that is like fleas arguing how they impact the dog.

[honeybee13]

Wow.

 

[honeybee13]

More from Staunton in the Times today on being asked to keep spending on Horizon issues down.

https://archive.is/5Kkns

[tobyjugg2]

Note Vennels said something along the lines of 'I need to be able to say' in that memo .. she must have forgotten - surely a person with her history didn't try to lead a false answer she already knew .. repeatedly (sic)

and Sarah Munby named along with that the 'dont rock the boat was emailed to Reid

 

Kemi Badderenough “made-up anecdotes and a series of falsehoods” - sounds like we should put that as her political obituary

.. despite her being given a safe tory seat after she kept failing to win one

Edited February 21 by tobyjugg2

[Xerzes]

"Venal Vennells!" 

 

[tobyjugg2]

Well, we know who sunak believes (knows?) is lying don't we ..

 

Sunak refuses to repeat Badenoch claim that ex-Post Office chair lied | Post Office Horizon scandal | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

---

PM declines to say Henry Staunton lied about government’s handling of payments for Horizon scandal victims

 

Edited February 21 by tobyjugg2

[honeybee13]

I missed this one from earlier in the month. John Hyde at the Law Gazette has been following the case from the beginning and wrote about this before.

SRA probes Post Office lawyers over 'intimidating' compensation offer letters to victims | Law Gazette

WWW.LAWGAZETTE.CO.UK

---

Letters marked 'without prejudice' and with confidentiality clauses were sent to victims during negotiations over...

Post Office was told to report three of its lawyers to SRA, inquiry hears | Law Gazette

WWW.LAWGAZETTE.CO.UK

---

External report cited potential issues over 'inadequate investigation' and 'negligent decision-making'.

 

[honeybee13]

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg thinks he's spotted a problem with the proposed legislation to exonerate SPMs.

 

[honeybee13]

Nick Wallis and Chris have written about the SPM compensation schemes. It sounds like a mess.

Is it cock up or conspiracy?

Chris’s Compensation Solutions – Post Office Scandal

WWW.POSTOFFICESCANDAL.UK

---

Chris Head at the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry earlier this month. After yesterday’s parliamentary debate on Postmaster Compensation, former...

 

[tobyjugg2]

hasn't sunak promised to speed up the overturning of the convictions, which is largely required for compensation ..

.. hoping to have it done by June-ish

Sounds like kicking the can as far as he dare while trying to claim hes speeding things up to me

- so he can claim a headline just before the GE but the compensation cases and any payments will all be post GE

Edited February 23 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

Former Post Office boss stripped of her CBE

WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

---

Paula Vennells announced that she planned to hand back her CBE following the fallout over the Horizon IT scandal

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has forfeited her CBE for “bringing the honours system into disrepute” following her handling of the Horizon IT scandal.

Ms Vennells was named on Friday in a list published on the Cabinet Office website as an individual whose honour had been revoked by the King.

Edited February 23 by tobyjugg2

[Nicky Boy]

About time. 

[tobyjugg2]

interesting that I've not seen it on any of the TV news channels?

[Nicky Boy]

Heard it on radio 4

[tobyjugg2]

Hollinrakes' wonky halo seems to be slipping more and more

‘Toxic culture of disbelief’ persists at top of Post Office, MPs told | Post Office Horizon scandal | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

---

Committee releases minutes of board meeting before appearance by former Post Office chair Henry Staunton

 

[tobyjugg2]

More on badenochs alleged lying re Staunton sacking

Was he almost asleep at meetings or roustabout bullying - or simply refusing to carry out obnoxious instructions, actually trying to do what was being broadcast rather than whispered, and simply trying to be decent?

 

"Asked about allegations that one of the problems with Henry Staunton was that he was not “alert” during meetings, Tidswell says that is not a concern he raised. But he says he was the person who had to tell Staunton that there had been a complaint about him and that after that his conduct changed. “His behaviour changed in a way that was somewhat erratic,” Tidswell says. He says this happened from November. But Staunton was not falling asleep in meetings, he says.

 

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY 

Carl Creswell, an official from the Department for Business and Trade said Tidswell had told Ben Tidswell that some board members might resign if Henry Staunton were not sacked)" Tidswell says he was right (See 11.14am.)

 

plus

Byrne (chair of the committee) put it to him that in all the documentation submitted to the committee from the Post Office there was no written evidence showing that it has been told by the government to speed up compensation payments.

Read accepted that, but said that this was an issue discussed with the government regularly.

He said that he has not had a conversation with Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, about accelerating the compensation scheme. But he has discussed this with Kevin Hollinrake, the post services minister"

So much for badenoch whining about 'wheres the documentation I'm a liar

[tobyjugg2]

 

"In an explosive revelation, Mr Staunton also alleged that the current Post Office CEO threatened to resign over a HR investigation into his own conduct.

Mr Staunton said Post Office chief executive Nick Read had fallen out with the HR director “and she produced a document that was 80 pages in length” and there was just one paragraph in there about his own conduct and use of “politically incorrect comments”.

Mr Staunton said Mr Read was “really quite upset” and threatened to resign a number of times.

But just an hour before Mr Staunton’s testimony, Mr Read had denied - under oath - that he had ever having tried to resign."

 

I’m victim of smear campaign says sacked Post Office chair as he accuses CEO of lying

WWW.INDEPENDENT.CO.UK

---

Henry Staunton, sacked by business secretary Kemi Badenoch, gives evidence to Commons committee

 

 

see also from the post above

"Carl Creswell, an official from the Department for Business and Trade said Tidswell had told Ben Tidswell that some board members might resign if Henry Staunton were not sacked)" Tidswell says he was right (See 11.14am.)"

 

So baden-ouch seems to be at the very least twisting the truth - no surprise there

 

 

Edited February 28 by tobyjugg2

[tobyjugg2]

Guardian live feed

 

A government minister has criticised the former chair of the Post Office following his dramatic select committee evidence on Tuesday during which he revealed the company’s current chief executive is under investigation.

In response to an urgent question in the Commons, Kevin Hollinrake, the postal services minister, described yesterday’s revelations by Henry Staunton in front of the business select committee as “highly unprofessional” during an urgent question in the Commons.

 

Hollinrake did not apparently criticise Badernuff for announcing things via her preferred media news outlet

So 'apparently dishonest rants and announcements via the Daily mail/Express - fine

but Answering Business select committee questions thoroughly is unprofessional?

 

err Nope

 

Edited February 28 by tobyjugg2

[honeybee13]

It's all starting to come out now.

PO CEO wanted a £1m salary, the ex-HR director is taking them to an employment tribunal and has produced a whistleblowing dossier. And morre.

https://archive.is/L1KsS