Just wanted to send everyone an update of where we are at right now in terms of this Post Office Horizon Scandal. There will be some delays to Select Committee hearings due to the Corona Virus outbreak and we do wish that everyone stays safe and well during this uncertain time.
On Monday 23rd March at 20:30 on BBC One - Panorama will air regarding 'Scandal at the Post Office' which is their second such episode about this. It will unveil the cover-up that has gone on for many years now. This is a must watch program and will be on catch up after the program has been live on air at this link below :-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gpbv
There was also a very good debate on the back benches at The House of Commons yesterday afternoon from 15:30 until 17:00 where MP's from across the house raised very detailed questions of the actions Post Office Ltd has taken to date. Unfortunately the response from the minister was the usual speech provided to him by the Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy civil servants that wish to keep this under wraps. The reply from Kevan Jones MP for North West Durham afterwards was very moving....'Can I just say one thing to the minister, it is this....please do not parrot what your civil servants are saying to you. It is not a comprehensive settlement in terms of the court case, he has admitted that the serious case review commission is now settling cases outside litigation for over £300,000 each (2 so far - claimants inside the litigation expect to receive around £10k each). His department does not even know what this review commission is as when I spoke to them this week they couldn't answer what it is. The same compensation must be available to those both inside and outside the litigation. He has an opportunity here, I myself have been a minister and it is a great privilege....but it is not about sitting on that front bench or carrying that red box, it is about making a difference and he has not come here today to make a difference and put a wrong right. What he can't do is continue what previous ministers have done to turn a blind eye and ignored the truth. I plead with the minister please be brave, it is in your hands to put this right, challenge everything your civil servants do.' A really remarkable statement and one we hope the minister takes on board. You can watch the entire debate here, I have cut direct to the specific Post Office debate :-
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/8605d827-28ba-4e65-8ec3-6d3e202c348a?in=15:30:00&out=17:00:35
Last night the minister was present on social media and I challenged him directly to do the right thing after one claimant told him he was being a 'coward' because of the civil servants. You can view the thread by clicking the two links below and clicking the image to enlarge the twitter conversation (you do not need a twitter account to view this) :-
http://www.s3blog.org/screengrab/images.html?id=d2751d0964cb073fa3ad598eefc5f162
http://www.s3blog.org/screengrab/images.html?id=b729db26e2a37fe15b9a19bc64073776
Post Office have done nothing to change their ways other than a new CEO. They cannot tell us the relationship has been 'reset' with Sub Postmasters because yesterday it was revealed by Karl Turner MP in the debate that there are legal documents that were exchanged in 2006 for one affected Postmaster that mentioned that he had not committed theft, fraud or false accounting...yet weeks later those same solicitors took this Postmaster to court, prosecuted for the very things they had said he had not done and failed to disclose the very documents and conversations to the court. These documents have recently been leaked to this claimant. The claimant contacted the Post Office and asked if they would be providing these documents to the CCRC so that they can assess if the conviction was unsafe and they were met with aggression by the Post Office, stating they would NOT be providing them to the CCRC and if the claimant releases them they will be in trouble since they are legally privileged. This is not an organisation that has changed its spots with a new CEO, they are continuing on like nothing has happened. Just when you think the scandal cannot grow anymore, it continues to do so.
The second Select Committee Inquiry hearing due on Tuesday 24th March with Paula Vennells, Nick Read and Rob Putland (Vice President of Fujitsu) has been cancelled due to the Corona Virus outbreak. I will update further as and when this may go ahead, although it may now be a written submission rather than oral. The Post Office seem very good at having everything happen around big disruption....first Brexit, then the election and now this Pandemic.
Thank you again for all your support, should anyone have anything they would like to ask or contribute please feel free to contact me on any of the below methods.
Twitter - @chrish9070
Email - chrishead1@icloud.com
Phone - 07311099051