Broadcast journalist. Author of ‘Depp v Heard: the unreal story’ and ‘The Great Post Office Scandal’. DMs open. Gender is performative. Sex is corporeal.
32 subscribers
Dec 17 • 84 tweets • 70 min read
Hello and welcome to a busy and likely final hearing day (Day 200) of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Earlier BBC Breakfast created an impromptu studio to allow Nina Warhurst to interview Janet Skinner, Lee Castleton, St John and Tim Brentnall
The Post Office barrister Nicola Greaney KC is on her feet. She gave a cursory overview of the Post Office's failings throughout the scandal. Sample quotes:
"This inquiry has been a humbling experience not only for those that gave evidence but for those that currently work at Post Office or used to and who are all equally appalled by Post Office's failures. No one who has read and listened to the evidence during this inquiry could come to any conclusion other than that the Horizon IT scandal is the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history and that its roots lay in fundamental structural and governance failings."
Nov 11 • 101 tweets • 19 min read
JR takes him to the following article:
[sorry that was JB]
JB: what's your take on this
JR: I'll listen to anything Alan Bates says
JB have you done any blue sky thinking on this
JR: we have sped things up, it hasn't reduced the accuracy or fairness or reduced the evidential bar.
Oct 18 • 98 tweets • 41 min read
Good morning from day 189 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Giving evidence this morning is the "stepped back" Post Office General Counsel, Ben Foat. Foat has stepped back from his day-to-day responsibilities to focus on his work on the Inquiry. He also...
... has been suffering from ill health. As such he is appearing at the Inquiry from a remote location and we are doing 1 hour of evidence followed by a 15 min break, then another hour of evidence etc...
Jul 30 • 201 tweets • >60 min read
Good morning and welcome to the final day of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry (day 174) before the summer break.
Susannah Jemima Storey is giving evidence today. She is the former ShEx director on the Post Office board...
... and is by far the poshest-sounding witness we have had for some time. Her accent is somewhere between aristocratic and minor royal (says affirm "a-fyaarm"
She is currently DCMS Permanent Secretary and has been sworn in, along with her Witness Statement (WS)
Jul 29 • 94 tweets • 17 min read
SS also raises SC raising the 2S issue - can you tell us what you spoke to PV about on the back of this note
NM no - can reflect on what I think I would have said
SS any recollection about tenor of convo?
NM not sure if this is a recollection or an imagining but...
... my reaction is that SC was being "over-emotional" - resigning over the 2S report would be "daft" - we were right to do the review. And resigning over the board meeting situation - yes it's clumsy, but it's not a resigning matter. Post Office was in a real mess.
Jul 29 • 154 tweets • 34 min read
Welcome to the Post Office scandal's Hotel California. This is day 173 of the public inquiry into the various failings by multiple individuals who were either corrupt, incompetent or asleep at the wheel. Today we're going to hear from...
Neil McCausland - former Senior Non-Executive Director and Interim Chair of Post Office Ltd. It looks like Sam Stevens is going to ask the questions. McCausland is being sworn in. Live tweets to follow. You can also watch along here:
Jul 25 • 174 tweets • 35 min read
Good morning and welcome to day 171 of the Post Office Inquiry. Sir Vince Cable and Greg Clark - two former Biz Secretaries giving evidence today. Cable first. Here's his welcome committee outside Aldwych House.
I'm joined on the press bench by Adam and Emily from BBC Online. The hearing room is slightly less sparse than it was yesterday for Margot James. This is my report on her evidence - she spoke about the PO being great at playing the victim in this scandal.
Welcome to day... 170 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. I am at Aldwych House. Very few other people are, including the witness, former minister Margot James, who is giving evidence remotely. It really does feel like the dog days...
... I spoke off the record to Ms James a while back about the Post Office Scandal to see if she'd be interviewed on the record, but she didn't seem to know much and then we landed Vince Cable (tomorrow's witness) who didn't seem to know much either.
Jul 19 • 180 tweets • 38 min read
Good morning and welcome to day 168 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Jo Swinson is in the witness chair this morning giving evidence about her tenure as Post Office Minister in the coalition government. She has been sworn in.
Julian Blake is asking questions on behalf of the Inquiry
Jul 18 • 265 tweets • >60 min read
Good morning and welcome to (oh god) day 167 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Evidence today from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the leader of the Liberal Democrats, better known as Pat McFadden and Sir Ed Davey. Lots of former Postmasters in attendance!
In fact the Inquiry ante-room is very busy this morning. I'm guessing the pols have brought their "people" - there are certainly lots of self-important people striding about and they're not all lawyers. Poor show on the journalism front, though. I was expecting more, though...
Jul 17 • 288 tweets • >60 min read
Good morning and welcome to day 166 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Today we're going to hear from former Senior Independent Director of the Post Office Ken McCall, followed by former Post Office minister Kelly Tolhurst. At least four former Subpostmasters are here
... including Alison Hall and Sharon Brown (pictured in the last tweet). I will be live tweeting proceedings. I have never met Ken McCall, but I have briefly met Kelly Tolhurst whilst she was Post Office minister - read about that here:
Good morning and welcome to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry - day 165. Today we're going to hear from Fujitsu's Andy Dunks, who tried to mislead a High Court judge during Bates v Post Office. Live tweets follow...
#PostOfficeInquiry
Dunks has had something of a charmed life as Fujitsu's "cryptographic key manager". He did not cover himself in glory when he last gave evidence to the Inquiry, and is one of the few witnesses to be recalled. Read more here: postofficescandal.uk/post/why-hasnt…
Jul 15 • 180 tweets • 30 min read
Good afternoon - I'm covering day 164 of the Post Office Horizon IT remotely. I'll live tweet it for those who cannot watch it live here:
Today's evidence comes from former Shareholder Executive official Sir Stephen Lovegrove (SL). Before he takes the oath, the inquiry chair Sir Wyn Williams (SWW) has announced a research project relevant to the 7th and final stage of the inquiry...
Jul 12 • 235 tweets • >60 min read
Good morning and welcome to Aldwych House for day 163 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Today we hear from former government man on the Post Office board, Richard Callard.
I'll live tweet as much of this as I can - I might have to duck in and out of the Inquiry today and possibly leave early, but I will write up what Callard has to say. You can read about his successor on the govt board (who gave evidence on Wed) here:
Good morning and welcome to day 162 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Former director Tom Cooper is giving evidence. He's just been sworn in and is going through the corrections to his Witness Statement (WS). Live tweets to follow.
Catriona Hodge is asking the questions for the Inquiry
Jul 9 • 240 tweets • >60 min read
Welcome to day 161 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. All this week we're going to hear from UKGI (UK Government Investments) execs who had "oversight" of the Post Office whilst it was completely off the rails. First in the chair is Mark Russell who has just been sworn in.
I am going to be live-tweeting today’s evidence. You can also follow proceedings live on Youtube here:
Jul 3 • 222 tweets • >60 min read
JB notes the main source of info for JS was the legal depart of the PO, who are, as we now know, complicit in the scandal and its cover-up
JB did you know the PO legal dept was the main source of info for the review
TP yes
Jun 25 • 213 tweets • >60 min read
Welcome to a busy Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry hearing room. Former Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins is giving evidence for the first of four days. He has taken the oath. All five of his witness statements have been sworn into evidence. 🧵
Jenkins (GJ) has been read the notice of privilege against self-incrimination by the Inquiry chair (SWW) which gives him the right to ask not to have to answer a question if he feels it might incriminate him if he is criminally prosecuted in the future.
Jun 18 • 269 tweets • >60 min read
Good morning from the Post Office IT Inquiry at Aldwych House in London. Evidence from these two today, Ron Warmington (left) and Ian Henderson (right) of Second Sight. This will be a thread of live tweets. I bumped into...
Ian on Kingsway this morning and asked him how he was feeling. "I've been waiting eleven years for this!" he said. In Mr Bates vs The Post Office Bob Rutherford is a composite of Ian and Ron. Ian's middle name is Rutherford. Ian is being sworn in now.
Jun 14 • 132 tweets • 28 min read
Welcome to Day 151 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry at Aldwych House in London. We await Andy Parsons second day of evidence, which I will live tweet, with documents... 🧵
About ten minutes ago I bumped into Andy Parsons in the loo. I said "Hello Andy, how are you?"
He did not reply. I wrote this about him yesterday:
Good morning and welcome to Aldwych House in London for Day 150 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Andy Parsons (AP) from Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) is giving the first of two days of evidence. Wombles used to be Bond Dickinson and before that, Bond Pearce. Live-tweets...
AP has been sworn in. He has given a 500+ page witness statement which will shortly be uploaded to the inquiry website. You can watch the evidence live here on the Inquiry's youtube channel: