Babak Belurs

Jumat, 12 Januari 2024

Tears of sub-postmistress who won't be saved by Sunak's Horizon scheme - The Independent

A sub-postmistress who “lost everything” after being accused of stealing from the Post Office in the Horizon IT scandal has tearfully warned that she will not be eligible for Rishi Sunak’s £600,000 compensation scheme.

As an ITV drama about the long-running scandal sparked public outrage, the government announced on Wednesday it would overturn the convictions of more than 900 postmasters wrongly convicted in what Mr Sunak described as “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history”.

But while these postmasters are now eligible for £600,000 in compensation, those who were not convicted but wrongly ordered to pay back shortfalls in Post Office balance sheets – created by errors with Fujitsu’s Horizon IT system – will qualify only for a lesser £75,000 payment under the new plans.

Horizon scandal campaigner Alan Bates could be in line for a knighthood, Rishi Sunak has appeared to suggest

(House of Commons/PA)

The Post Office has already conceded it owes compensation to thousands of postmasters forced to pay back these incorrect shortfalls, with 2,645 people so far offered an average of £44,450 in compensation since the initial Horizon Shortfall Scheme was set up in 2019.

Have you been affected by the Post Office scandal? Email andy.gregory@independent.co.uk

But one former sub-postmistress in Newcastle, who lost her life savings when she repaid a fake shortfall, gave an emotional interview on Thursday warning that the government’s new offer of £75,000 “just doesn’t cut it”.

Sarah Burgess-Boyd, who was acquitted of theft at a trial in 2011 when the Post Office submitted no evidence, two years after she first reported seeing a shortfall on Horizon, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I have lost everything. I’ve lost my business, all my savings.

“I haven’t got a penny to my name,” she said, her voice strained with emotion as she fought back tears. “I’m not future-proofed. I’m nearly 60, I have no pension provision. I’ve lost my reputation – l lost everything.”

Claiming the Post Office doesn’t “seem to know or care what they’ve done to hundreds of people”, Ms Burgess-Boyd said “it would appear that government is the same”, adding: “I watched the news last night and the prime minister’s little speech.

The scale of the Post Office scandal has prompted the government to propose intervening in the courts in an uprecedented fashion to overturn their convictions

(Yui Mok/PA)

“I am really, really pleased that they are going to overturn convicted subpostmaster’s convictions, and he talked a little about financial redress, offering £600,000 to each convicted subpostmaster.

“But there are lots of us who were not convicted, who have lost a great deal and he’s said he’s offered us £75,000. That just doesn’t cut it.”

She added: “I would like to be put back into a position where I would be now in my life if the Post Office hadn’t have done what they did.

“I would like that financial stability so that I can enjoy the rest of my life. I’ve had 15 years of living hand to mouth, and I had a thriving business. It’s all gone.”

While Ms Burgess-Boyd said she has tried to block much of the public inquiry into the scandal from her mind for the sake of her mental health, the former sub-postmistress warned that, from what she has seen of it, there is “still no accountability”.

Asked about the galvanisation of public support in the wake of ITV’s drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, Ms Burgess-Boyd said: “We are being heard, and I really sincerely hope now that justice will be done.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “While we cannot comment on individual cases, we are introducing a fixed offer of £75,000 for the postmasters who brought the class action in the High Court who did not receive a conviction.

“We know it won’t suit all postmasters – as with the £600k for those with convictions, GLO claimants can choose to ignore the £75k over and instead continue with the current process.”

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2024-01-12 09:20:36Z
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Snow to hit London next week as deep freeze continues - Evening Standard

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Snow to hit London next week as deep freeze continues Evening Standard
Disruptive snow possible next week Met Office
Met Office map shows where in England faces barrage of snow next week Birmingham Live
Cold and dry spell to continue before temperatures plunge further at weekend Evening Standard
UK weather: Temperatures forecast to plummet to -5C, bringing risk of 'substantial snow' and wintry hazards Sky News

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2024-01-12 08:41:18Z
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Kamis, 11 Januari 2024

Snow to hit London next week as deep freeze continues - Evening Standard

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Snow to hit London next week as deep freeze continues Evening Standard
UK weather: Met Office reveals snow WILL hit Britain this weekend as map shows how Arctic blast will sweep the Daily Mail
Met Office map shows where and when snow will hit UK next week Birmingham Live
UK weather: Temperatures forecast to plummet to -5C, bringing risk of 'substantial snow' and wintry hazards Sky News
Cold and dry spell to continue before temperatures plunge further at weekend Evening Standard

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2024-01-12 06:52:11Z
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Post Office scandal latest: Investigator gives evidence at Horizon IT Inquiry - watch live - The Telegraph

A Post Office investigator described as having a “heavy footprint” in the Horizon IT scandal will give evidence today at the inquiry’s first hearing of the year.

Stephen Bradshaw was involved in the criminal investigation of nine sub-postmasters, including Lisa Brennan, a former counter clerk at a post office in Huyton, near Liverpool, who was falsely accused of stealing £3,000 in 2003.

His evidence will form part of phase four of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, which began in July last year and is looking at the action that was taken against sub-postmasters, including audits, investigations and criminal proceedings.

Jason Beer KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, previously described Mr Bradshaw as having a “heavy footprint” in the scandal. Mr Bradshaw was set to answer questions in November but disclosure failings from the Post Office meant the hearing was delayed until Thursday.

The statutory inquiry, which began in 2021 and is chaired by retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, has independently looked at the human impact of the scandal, the Horizon system roll-out and the operating of the system, and is now probing the action taken against sub-postmasters.

Follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments

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2024-01-11 10:04:00Z
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Post Office scandal: Hundreds could have convictions overturned this year - BBC

A Post Office sign on the outside of a building

By Sean Seddon & George Wright

BBC News

Hundreds wrongly convicted in the Post Office scandal could have their names cleared this year, after emergency laws were announced to "swiftly exonerate and compensate victims".

Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake said they had been victims of a "brutal and arbitrary exercise of power".

He added that £1bn had been budgeted for compensation payments.

There were more than 900 convictions linked to the scandal over 16 years, with only 93 so far being overturned.

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters and mistresses after a faulty computer system called Horizon made it look like money was missing.

Former sub-postmaster Alan Bates - who inspired the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office - told the BBC the announcement of the new law was "another positive step forward".

However, he said "the devil is in the detail, and we've yet to see that".

Ahead of the public inquiry into the affair resuming on Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons on Wednesday that those previously convicted in England and Wales would be cleared of wrongdoing and compensated under a new law.

The Scottish government also announced similar plans for those convicted in Scotland, which has a separate legal system.

Downing Street said its aim was to complete the process of overturning the convictions of those affected by the end of 2024.

The prime minister's spokesman said the government intends to "introduce the legislation within weeks" and is "confident it will be well-supported".

Speaking in the Commons after the prime minister, Mr Hollinrake said evidence that emerged from the ongoing public inquiry into the scandal suggested the Post Office acted with "incompetence and malevolence".

He described the decision to overturn the convictions through an Act of Parliament as "unprecedented" and said it had not been taken lightly, given its potential ramifications on the legal system.

Mr Hollinrake said the move applying to England and Wales "raises important constitutional issues" around the independence of the courts, which are normally the authority that would overturn a conviction.

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The minister also accepted the new law would risk seeing people who were genuinely guilty of a crime pardoned - though the government estimates that to be a very small proportion of the total number affected.

Asked by the BBC's PM programme why it had taken a TV drama to inspire action on a problem known about for over a decade, Mr Hollinrake said the show released this year had moved the public as well as people in government.

"We are people ourselves of course. We watch TV ourselves and see this stuff, and we and other people within government realise this is a situation we've got to resolve," he said.

While the full detail of the law has not been published, Downing Street said it would amount to a blanket overturning of convictions tied to the faulty Horizon IT system.

Mr Hollinrake told the Commons former sub-postmasters and postmistresses would not be eligible for compensation until they had signed a declaration that they had not committed any crime.

He said by signing the document, they will become eligible for the compensation payment of £600,000 already available to people who have had their names cleared via the courts.

The declaration is designed to prevent "guilty people walking away with hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money", he said, adding: "Anyone falsely signing this will be subject for prosecution for fraud."

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He was later asked by BBC Newsnight whether the compensation payments would be paid for by the taxpayer or Fujitsu, the tech company that developed the Horizon system.

"I very much hope it is a combination of both," he said, adding that it would be "only right" for Fujitsu to contribute if the public inquiry finds that the company shares responsibility for the scandal.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk echoed the comments as he called for Fujitsu to "face the consequences" if found to be at fault, on ITV's Peston show.

Fujitsu has been awarded more than £6.5bn in public contracts since 2013, according to procurement analysts Tussell.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's World Tonight, Labour MP Kevan Jones, a member of the independent Horizon Compensation Advisory Board, said the decision to exonerate and compensate victims en masse would be "controversial" but that he believed it was the "only way forward".

"You've got a situation where people... didn't come forward to have their convictions overturned because they would not be able to face a court of law. Likewise, we've got a situation where evidence has been destroyed," he said.

"So how you would do an appeal for some of these individuals? It would be very difficult."

The government has also confirmed it will:

introduce a one-off £75,000 payment ofr the 555 ex-postmasters whose group court case, led by Alan Bates, helped to expose the injustice
review whether people whose convictions were upheld after an appeal can also be overturned by the new law
work with administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure sub-postmasters in those nations can also be cleared

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2024-01-11 06:16:58Z
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Met Office map shows exact time snow bomb forecast to hit Greater Manchester next week - Manchester Evening News

A Met Office map shows when a snow bomb is forecast to hit Greater Manchester next week - ahead of what could be the 'worst snowstorm in 14 years'.

According to the UK precipitation map, a huge cloud of snow is set to move over our region on Monday evening (January 15) and into the early hours of Tuesday as as an 'Arctic influence' descends over the country. Temperatures are set to plummet to freezing, though it will feel more like -3C.

Freezing temperatures are then forecast into Tuesday morning with the mercury not expected to rise over 3C until the middle of next of week. James Madden, an Exacta weather forecaster, has predicted the snow risk in the UK next week is greater than any year since 2010.

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He told GB News: "Over the next few weeks, there will be a high chance of snow with the risk higher than the same period over the past few years or indeed, since the big freeze of 2010. It is likely we are about to start seeing images of vast regions of the nation covered in snow during a cold spell which is likely to hold out for an extended period.

"As well as the risk of snow, we will see harsh overnight frosts and the coldest temperatures dipping as low as -15C in the coldest parts of the country over the coming week."

Met Office deputy chief forecaster Tony Wardle said: "There is the potential for some disruptive snow through the middle to latter part of next week as warmer Atlantic air attempts to push in from the southwest. As this occurs, some substantial snow could fall in some places, but the details of that are uncertain at the moment."

The Met Office's long range forecast, from Monday January 15 to Wednesday, January 24, says: "Often cloudy across clearing central and southern areas at first. Thereafter, turning colder from the North, with brisk northerly winds likely developing widely across of the UK, bringing a risk of snow showers, most frequent across the north.

"Temperatures remaining cold, and a marked wind chill especially in the north. There is risk of unsettled weather pushing in from the south through this period, which could lead to a band of snow and sleet where it meets the colder air across the country.

"Confidence is low with regards the timing of the arrival of any such disturbance, but there is an increasing risk of something potentially disruptive at some point in this period. Widespread frosts continue to be a feature by night, with a risk of ice in places."

Before the freezing cold snap takes hold over the UK, the next few days are set to be slightly warmer with more settled and cloudy conditions forecast in Greater Manchester. A UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) amber cold health alert remains in place for our region until noon on Friday.

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2024-01-11 07:07:00Z
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Fujitsu may have to repay ‘fortune’ spent on Post Office scandal, Chalk says - The Guardian

Fujitsu should repay the “fortune” spent on the Post Office scandal if it is found culpable, the justice secretary has suggested, as pressure increases on the firm behind the faulty Horizon software.

If the statutory inquiry into the saga, which resumes on Thursday, finds the “scale of the incompetence is as we might imagine”, ministers would want to “secure proper recompense on behalf of the taxpayer”, Alex Chalk said.

Hundreds of Post Office branch managers were convicted of swindling money on the basis of evidence from the technology giant’s flawed Horizon accounting system.

Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday that hundreds of post office operators in England and Wales could have their names cleared by the end of the year under blanket legislation to be introduced within weeks.

Those whose convictions are quashed are eligible for a £600,000 compensation payment, or potentially more if they go through a process of having their claim individually assessed.

While the proposals were widely welcomed, the prime minister faces increasing calls to go further and bar Fujitsu from securing government contracts and pursue the firm for payments.

Chalk said the government would wait for the conclusions of the inquiry chaired by the retired judge Sir Wyn Williams before it decides what action to take against the company.

“But bluntly, if the scale of the incompetence is as we might imagine, then I simply would want to secure proper recompense on behalf of the taxpayer,” the cabinet minister told ITV’s Peston.

“It’s absolutely right that there should be justice across the piece, yes for the sub-postmasters, which we’re talking about today, but frankly also for the taxpayer. This has cost and will cost a fortune.”

If Fujitsu is found to be at fault, it should face the consequences, Chalk added, in a sign ministers could launch legal action against the Japanese company.

The firm has been awarded government contracts worth billions in recent years and its continued involvement in important IT schemes has raised concerns at Westminster.

Ministers tried to prevent Fujitsu getting more official work but this proved “impossible” despite its “woeful” performance, a Tory peer revealed on Wednesday.

Lord Maude of Horsham, who served as Cabinet Office minister under David Cameron, said procurement rules thwarted ministers’ efforts. He said if Fujitsu had “any sense of honour” it would swiftly make a significant payment towards the compensation of wrongly convicted post office operators.

The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office this month, which highlighted the scandal.

The public inquiry, whose first hearing of the year on Thursday will feature the Post Office investigator Stephen Bradshaw, is likely to keep the scandal in the headlines.

Bradshaw has been described as having a “heavy footprint” in the scandal after being involved in the criminal investigation of nine post office operators.

MPs were told on Wednesday that previous evidence from the inquiry had pointed to “not only incompetence but malevolence” in the way the Post Office acted against them.

Alan Bates, the campaigning former post office operator on whom the ITV series centred, said it was “about time” for the move to exonerate Post Office staff.

But asked if he would be celebrating the victory, the 69-year-old told the Times “you must be joking” as he and many others are yet to receive final compensation.

Bates told the Mirror: “The overturning of convictions is very good news but the priority remains full financial redress to everyone impacted. £75,000 is an alternative to having your case independently assessed, so for the smaller cases, it will probably suffice. But for many cases, it is not enough.”

The scale of the scandal has prompted the government to adopt the unconventional approach of introducing new legislation.

Ministers acknowledged the plan could result in some post office operators who did commit crimes being wrongly cleared, but said the process was the most effective way of dealing with the vast majority who were victims of a miscarriage of justice.

Chalk has been discussing the situation with senior judges because of the constitutional concern about parliament being seen to interfere with the legal system.

Sunak announced a £75,000 offer for post office operators involved in a group legal action against the company – with ministers setting aside up to £1bn for compensation.

The Horizon software started to be rolled out in Post Office branches across the UK in 1999 and, over the subsequent years, a series of workers were prosecuted over missing funds.

In 2019, the high court ruled that Horizon contained a number of “bugs, errors and defects” and there was a “material risk” that shortfalls in Post Office branch accounts were caused by the system.

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2024-01-11 07:20:00Z
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Jumat, 12 Januari 2024

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Kamis, 11 Januari 2024

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