Paula Vennells was back in Phase 5/6 of the Post Office Inquiry and now we're at Phase 7 - thread 5

[nauticant]

A continuation of this thread about the Post Office Inquiry:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5105378-paula-vennells-is-history-but-now-at-the-post-office-inquiry-is-fujitsu-distinguished-engineer-gareth-jenkins-thread-4

The Inquiry is at Phase 7 which is about how things stand now and looking to the future. Here's the timetable:

https://www.postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk/phase-7-timetable

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

Thank you @nauticant

Thanks @nauticant

Placemarking - and ta!

Placemarking. I perhaps ought not to get stuck into the enquiry and get on with the jobs I am supposed to be doing!

I ought to be getting on with other things too. 😁

But after yesterday, the Inquiry is not stopping revealing the horrific things happening today at the Post Office and the piss poor handling of the compensation schemes .

A telling exchange yesterday was Mr Blake and Saf Ismail talking about how the top levels of Post Office spent so much time pissing about and playing games, often around status and backstabbing. It brought to mind the mean girls behaviour of Vennells and Perkins revealed some time back.

Yes! And I think we are going to hear more the back-stabbing, mean girls and boys behaviour.

It was touched upon a little yesterday.
The new Chair of the Board, Henry Stauton, was sacked by Kemi Badenoch.
Not clear why.
Henry Stauton went to the press claiming a Civil Servant told him to delay compensation payments to get the Tory government through the election.
Cue: lots of in fighting about bullying, lying, cover ups, people threatening to resign.

I think we are going to hear a lot more about this.
Especially from Kemi badenoch, Henry Staunton and Nick Read when they are due to give evidence.

for all.

Thank you so much @nauticant and @minou123 for new thread and reporting.

Goodness, I'd forgotten about this.

At the time it seemed extraordinary behaviour all round – to those of us unknowing about the state of things in the PO.

Now I'm beginning to understand it's par for the course...

This section is highly revealing. Top level email exchanges between POL and Fujitsu from earlier this year with Fujitsu effectively declining to assist POL in prosecution of SPMs because POL's record is so catastrophic that Fujitsu want nothing to do with being dragged back into those activities.

Further to that, a letter from Fujitsu that they cannot provide evidence to validate the reliability of Horizon for a court because firstly they're not independent and secondly they're not actually able to do this. (I think that doesn't mean it's impossible but more that it's something that should be done by an external body with significant relevant expertise. In other words, making it's not economically possible.)

Mr Blake: Aren't we back to the school playground again with this exchange of letters [between the top levels of POL and Fujitsu]?

What the merry fuck is going on?
This would be funny, if it wasn't so tragic.

Here we are in May 2024, showing the PO trying to once again go after a SPMR with the Police and CPS and trying to get Fujitsu to write a witness statement stating Horizon is a robust system.

You're right @nauticant this is so revealing.
POL seem to think that now the police are investgating and CPS are prosecuting, they can go back to prosecuting.

Thank you @nauticant

Are we going to see much of Jason Beer this time around? I read that he was also simultaneously instructed for the NHS on the Lucy Letby Inquiry.

Elliot Jacobs, the other SPM NED on the board, is a more cautious character being somewhat circumspect in his evidence. But, in essence, he's corroborating the earlier evidence. Particularly in terms of there are places Post Office doesn't want SPM NEDs to be, and information it doesn't want them to see.

Now this section is fascinating, Jacobs found himself the subject of Post Office's investigation branch. It's not yet clear where this went but it looks Iike Post Office wanted him to understand he would be under considerable scrutiny. As Jacobs keeps on saying, none of this looked anything like any other interaction he'd had in decades of business.

This is Kafka-esque. Essentially, the investigations branch decided to go after him and when he asked for the data they'd based their investigation on it turned out they didn't have any. Very odd.

One of the accusations against him was that as a SPM, by sitting on the board of POL he had a conflict of interest. When he'd been appointed to sit on the board specifically because he was an SPM.

I reckon he will be back - he is superman 😁

I think he will be back for the big names, like Henry Staunton,Nick Read and Kemi Badenboch

I won't do any spoilers for how things worked out. This went on mostly over 2023 so is not about things long ago during the "bad old days".

I am 30 mins behind for Elliot Jacobs, but catching up.

Both he and Saf are very eloquent, in thier own ways.
I agree @nauticant Elliott is more careful how he is wording it, and Saf is more direct, but both are saying the exact same thing.

You wait till you get to the bit where Jacobs explains the investigation ordeal he went through. His understatement makes his testimony particularly powerful.

Just watching it now.

I have my mouth wide open, and just keep saying "What the fuck, what the fuck", everytime Jacobs describes what he went through during his investigation, only in March of the year.

One things for sure, POL need to stop hiring ex-police officers to thier investigators team.
Its like they are on power trips, now they are free from the strict Police regulations. And "investigating" how they damn well please, without any supervision.

The inquiry is not sitting tomorrow.

We are back on Thursday with Callum Greenhow who is the current head of the NFSP.

I imagine he will try to undo all the bad publicity from when the former head of the NFSP, George Thomson gave evidence.

Im still not over George Thomson.
I get flashbacks.
God even the poor SPMRs had enough, were so disgusted, they walked out the room before he had even finished.