Horizon scandal

There’s also a 2022 Panorama about this issue, available on BBC iPlayer.

That’s exactly right. I think I’ve said it before, but - apart from the way the PO conducted its investigation - the biggest problem seems to have been the failure to disclose undermining material, probably because those who were responsible for disclosure were also the ones responsible for the prosecutions.

Had the CPS been responsible for the prosecutions, it is much more likely that the key undermining material (as I understand it, that Fujitsu had access to the computer systems) would have been disclosed.

Edited: I read a suggestion today that the CPS was involved in some prosecutions. I don’t know if it’s true, but if it is, there would have been even more reason for the PO to hide undermining material.

The test is here, in s. 3 of the CPIA 1996:

The plot thickens - BBC News reports today that the Post Office may have deducted the compensation payments from its profits when calculating its corporation tax liability - which it’s not allowed to do - but left that money in the profit figures when calculating executive pay and bonuses!!! A £100m tax bill is in prospect, which would make the PO technically insolvent!

Sounds to me like the PO needs a proper management shakeup and some new people in charge, who can change the corporate culture.

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Like a lot of long established business it could use an enema.

With friends like the Tories, who needs enemas? :smiley:

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The CPS were involved in a small number of prosecutions of postmasters, I think 10 has been quoted. It was thought these were not connected to the Horizon system though, Only the CPS could comment on this, and they won’t. The Cons brought this up in press briefings with the obvious link to Kier Starmer, trying to suggest that he was culpable, but it didn’t really run.

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Farage is claiming that Starmer is culpable even for the cases the PO prosecuted.

Never passes up an opportunity to grift, does he?

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Been watching GB news again :joy:

I can honestly say that I have seen precisely 0 seconds of GB “news” output, and have no desire to increase the amount.

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Its usually where Farage spouts his bile. I need to block their news feed on my phone, dont know how it arrived, must have click bated myself at some point.

I had to do that on my father’s phone over Christmas. I couldn’t figure out where he was getting the bile that he was quoting and discovered that he was getting notifications from GB News. Not sure how as he doesn’t get them from anywhere else.

Happily I don’t have such a phone that will do that sort of thing to me. :joy:

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I was amused to find out recently that “Faraj” in Malay is the word for a portion of the female anatomy, often used as a pejorative. :smiley:

So telling someone “you’re an absolute Faraj” is quite offensive. :slight_smile:

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It now seems that they have avoided paying tax on the compensation paid to the vindicated postmasters.

Yes a bit of double dealing on their tax and profits declarations, it seams the wrong ones went to prison.

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Yes, @ChrisMann posted earlier.

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I know someone who was employed by Fujitsu at the time of the scandal and was heavily involved in the post office project, luckily he was not one of the development team but he knew them well. They were forced by the post office to give evidence against the post office staff and they bitterly complained how their words were cleverly twisted by the expensive post office lawyers to mean something entirely different to what they were trying to say and then of course they were in trouble again when the bubble burst for saying the things they were forced into saying. Also apparently the whistleblower found by the BBC was a total incompetent and was sacked because he couldn’t do his job so more misinformation. So the fault was with the post office management for giving a poor specification and Fujitsu for accepting it.

They still knew enough to come to the aid of the sub postmasters.

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Blind faith in big tech

What’s the best way of getting rid of a whistle blower? Say that they are incompetent and sack them.

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