Paula Vennells is history but now at the Post Office Inquiry is Fujitsu distinguished engineer Gareth Jenkins - thread 4

[nauticant]

A continuation of this thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5094266-paula-vennells-was-done-the-other-week-the-post-office-inquiry-is-now-questioning-associates-and-others-thread-3

When the hearings are going on, live-streaming can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/@postofficehorizonitinquiry947/featured

All of the previous hearings can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/@postofficehorizonitinquiry947/videos

Swinson animated over having to be head teacher and correct poor quality correspondence from civil servants. I'm not convinced this is a core issue.

Mr Blake tries to get her onto the substance of the correspondence rather than its tidiness.

I can't follow this at all, she's speaking far too fast for the sub-title system. She is causing systemic issues. She's melted the dilithium crystals, Jim.

Nice from the Guardian on yesterday's evidence https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/18/exit-bungee-jumping-ed-enter-shifty-ed-as-davey-attends-the-post-office-inquiry

Thank goodness she has slowed down.

So who from her staff agreed to this 'mysterious' meeting on Swinson's behalf with Vennells and Perkins in 2013?

😂

Ah canna hold her, Cap’n! 😂

A section about publication of the Second Sight interim report. Sounds like it was chaotic, she was blindsided to a degree by Post Office, but ultimately took away the message that all was well and there was nothing to see here.

I think a big part of the problem is that ministers are looking to be told that all's well and those around them know that their chances of advancement are improved by giving ministers what they want. No one likes a party-pooper.

So on 3rd July 2013 she spoke to James Arbuthnot on the phone (good) and asked her staff member Will Gibson to follow up with Second Sight (good) for her.

She then seems to have lost the thread of this (not so good) due to pressure of other issues eg parliamentary debate on gift cards.

Not sure if Will Gibson read the Second Sight report (Swinson didn't, may have 'scanned' through it and read summary) but they didn't appreciate what they were looking at, I don't think.

At least she is 'staggered' by how she was duped. 'Paula Vennells knew there were problems with an unsafe witness, and she never told me.' Bam!

Swinson adamant that it was correct for the government not to intervene. Since the government was the single shareholder then, if there was doubt that Post Office had behaved properly, the government had a duty to intervene.

An interesting insight there into what happens behind the scenes. There's a wow paragraph in a Fujitsu email and from what Swindon said, before her giving evidence, Mr Blake showed her the email and identified the explosive paragraph. This was to avoid blindsiding her and to permit her to give a considered response in her evidence.

One interesting thing is that in a number of situations, opinions and expressions are attributed to Swinson that she now expresses bafflement over. These tend to be things that work suit the agendas of others and I'm minded to believe Swinson.

According to Swinson, in 2013 the more the Horizon situation was spinning out of control for Post Office and ShEx, the less she was briefed, and when she was it was partial and/or misleading. She's pou ring the finger at Callard.

I'm glad Swinson's naming names and pointing fingers.

Calls the Clarke memo a 'bombshell'.

Mr Blake pulls her back (again) from lambasting Vennells.

Swinson's evidence is that Callard was manipulating her over the matter of replacing the CEO and CFO and what he said to the Inquiry about the briefing he gave her was definitely untrue.

Richard Callard (and others) and their roles discussed here by Nick Wallis

https://www.postofficetrial.com/2020/07/the-post-office-cover-up-part-2-they.html

Indeed.

More than any other person giving evidence I can recall, Swinson frequently breaks away from addressing Mr Blake and addresses the various counsel, or possibly the public gallery.

Re Altman Review mentioned. Context from Nick Wallis:

www.postofficescandal.uk/post/altman-general-review-finally-published/

Swinson outlining how POL misled her

That was more interesting than I was expecting. If we're to believe Swinson's version she was skeptical of the advice she was receiving from specific parts of the Civil Service and did push back from time to time.

She had the advantage over the other ministers of being in the midst of events and things changing while they were more steady as she goes.

Lunch break till 13.50 when we'll resume with 10 (?) minutes of questions.

Swinson sheds tear

I agree that was a very interesting morning, nauticant, and thank you once again for your insightful commentary.

And I'm glad Swinson has to return after the lunch break, and not end on the catch in her voice image, albeit I think she was telling the truth as she knew it for the most part.