Good morning from murky Dublin!
I spent yesterday afternoon addressing the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland on the subject of corporate governance at the Aviva stadium, or as most people know it, Lansdowne Road.
Last time I was in Dublin, Taylor Swift was playing the Aviva stadium. We could hear her as we walked from our hotel into the City Centre. When I told my kids I was doing a talk at the Aviva stadium I could tell they thought I’d gone up in the world (they genuinely have no idea what I do). I left it half a second before telling them it was a talk in one of the Aviva stadium’s conference suites. Still, my son hasn’t been so impressed since I told him I had met Piers Morgan.
I am grateful to the IoD Ireland for having me and I am told that a film of the talk will be available to IoD Ireland members shortly.
If you want to listen to a podcast I did with Dr Roger Barker from the IoD UK, also about corporate governance, you can do so here.
Anyway…
Yesterday I was also alerted to a letter posted on the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board (HCAB) section of the government website, calling on the Lord Chancellor to quash all convictions where Capture evidence was used to prosecute Subpostmasters. The HCAB comprises Professor Chris Hodges, Lord Arbuthnot, Lord Beamish (formerly known as Kevan Jones MP) and Professor Richard Moorhead. Their work has helped shape government thinking about Postmaster redress and the quashing of convictions, The HCAB’s letter to the Lord Chancellor is clear and powerful.
I wrote a quick piece about the HCAB letter in between my IoD talk and my remote attendance at a Horizon Scandal Fund trustees meeting. It’s therefore a bit of a rush job, but I hope it makes sense.
As you will see from my piece I have also asked the Ministry of Justice if they are going to listen to the HCAB and legislate to quash the Capture convictions, and if not, why not? I await their response.
One thing I didn’t get time to add to my article, which I may do at some point is something I have already shared with you in a past newsletter. According to a secret emailer who helped write the Capture software, branch accounting data was manually added into Capture by Subpostmasters, which means the Kroll conclusion about Capture:
“there was a reasonable likelihood that Capture could have created shortfalls for sub-postmasters”
… seems a bit of a nonsense. Sure, the software could have been buggy and likely miscalculated some of the data entered by Subpostmasters. It’s also a given the Post Office investigative goons would have misrepresented the Capture outputs in an attempt to prove criminal activity, by a Subpostmaster, but I have some sympathy with the view that there there is no way Capture could have created accounting shortfalls for Subpostmasters as it did not do their accounting. It “merely” miscalculated the sums manually entered into it.
This might seem semantic, but it is important, and a world away from what Horizon did. Either way, the HCAB make the point that this is not about the evidence generated by Capture, rather “the behaviour of Post Office investigations and management” which “is the same as what took place in relation to the Horizon victims”.
My Capture correspondent is on a similar page, writing:
“I totally agree that brutish investigators would have used Capture data to make their case without compunction regardless of what the real figures showed”
… but he is adamant the Kroll report’s conclusion is factually incorrect, telling me:
“Capture was basically a spreadsheet and whether or not the software in the office was corrupted it could not impact on the integrity of the data being entered or change the actual cash position of the office. If the office was in balance then a manual balance would show this. Capture could not lose an office money or produce a shortfall. This is practically and logically absurd.”
Ecco Chamber
Computer Weekly reports that the National Federation of Subpostmasters (NFSP) are attempting to open up a third IT battlefront, this time writing to the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds asking for a review of any enforcement activity using data from the Post Office’s “Ecco” system, another precursor to Horizon. According to CW, one unnamed former Post Office executive called the Ecco system “chronically unreliable”.
Whilst this matter undoubtedly needs highlighting, it is odd that the NFSP are choosing to do it, given that Ecco was only ever in use in Crown Offices, and the NFSP does not represent staff in Crown Offices. That was the CWU’s job.
Moorhead’s Moment
I was in Devon earlier this week, and when one is straying into Professor Richard Moorhead’s territory, it is the right and proper to go and pay one’s respects. We spoke about Richard’s forthcoming Hamlyn lectures, starting next week in Exeter, then moving on to Leeds and London.
These are clearly quite a big deal in the legal/academic world – Richard’s Exeter talk is being introduced by the former President of the Supreme Court, Baroness Hale. I asked Richard how much of the talk will be focusing on the Post Office scandal and he said “around 50%”, describing the matters arising from the scandal as a thread which runs through all three of his lectures.
The talks are free to attend, though London’s lecture, introduced by Lord Arbuthnot, is oversubscribed. You can dial into them all remotely. Apparently. I’m not sure how it works, but this is the place to start if you are interested.
Another lecture!
Subpostmaster barrister (and hero to many) Flora Page is to deliver the 5th Heilbron Lecture on 19 November. Flora’s theme is “No Choice But To Trust – the predicament of the powerless”. Tickets are available here. I will be there. Do come along if you can.
Horizon Scandal Fund
I mentioned the Horizon Scandal Fund earlier. It was a good meeting last night. I was astounded to hear we have made a total of £110,000 worth of grants since our inception in 2021. We are still helping a lot of former Subpostmasters and their families with counselling, and there are many other small and large grants we are making in order to help people try to get on an even keel. I am going to be working with David Chaplin, the Chair of the Fund, to put together an end-of-year newsletter which will highlight some of the ways in which the Fund has been able to help. Obviously as soon as we publish something, I’ll share it here.
If you know anyone who might need help, or you were affected by the Horizon scandal and may need support yourself, please get in touch, or apply confidentially through the Fund’s website. We still have money available to make grants and will consider any application made by (or on behalf of) anyone in need.
Other media
There’s so much going on. Here’s a selection:
Exclusive: Post Office scandal shattered lives beyond repair – Asian Trader
A great long read featuring interviews with Seema Misra, Vipin Patel and Shazia Saddiq. All three are extraordinary people and I pay tribute to them.
Post Office scandal musical ‘shows the heartache’ – BBC
Change to rules on computer evidence will be an ‘outcome’ of Post Office scandal – Computer Weekly
SRA: Timing of Post Office and Axiom Ince prosecutions uncertain – Legal Futures
(this at least suggests some lawyers caught up in the Post Office scandal will be prosecuted)
Post Office lawyers slammed for ‘unprofessional behaviour’ – The Times
Till Next Time
Right, I need to get ready for my flight back to the UK, so I will take my leave. As well as covering as much of the Inquiry as I can over its final two weeks (re-starting on Mon 4 Nov), I’m also going to be doing some presenting for Times Radio in November and December. I’ll let you know the specific dates nearer the time.
Take care of yourselves,
Nick