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Newsletter Posts
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Byers Remorse – former Secretary of State reveals structural dysfunction at the top of government
Big picture disaster Hi everyone I’d like to start with a big thank you to everyone who has signed up to the secret email over the last week or so – it always amazes me how people find their way to doing so when we’re being a bit quiet. Rebecca and I have been quite…
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Dave the Destroyer cuts a swathe through Fujitsu
They knew all along Horizon wouldn’t work Good afternoon Easily the most important, highly skilled and articulate technical witness gave evidence at the inquiry yesterday – Dave McDonnell, co-author of the internal Fujitsu/ICL report which laid bare the deficiencies in the Horizon EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) system before its rollout, was very much worth…
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“I tend not to believe what journalists write”
plus: Fujitsu’s Special Laptop Hi there The evidence was a bit of a grind last week, but over the three days the inquiry was sitting there were some useful revelations. Rebecca and I have summarised them on Episode 21 of our podcast – The Special Laptop. We found out that Fujitsu engineer Anne Chambers was…
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Bad code, bad systems, bad times
The Good Folkes Good afternoon from a wet Walton-on-Thames. It’s been another fascinating week at the inquiry. To summarise, the Post Office bosses were under pressure from the government to get Horizon live system out, Fujitsu were trying to pretend it was more stable than it was and no one outside the legal department was…
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The Inquiry’s Miller Time, scandal fund helps Gizmo and new live event in Henley-on-Thames
Post Office warned of IT ‘trauma’ in 1999 Good evening. Apologies for the slight delay in getting a newsletter together, Mrs Wallis and I stole away for a bit at the end of the half term week which threw things slightly out of whack. I spent the entirety of Friday evening watching two days worth…
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The Oppenheim Project – gruelling Fujitsu/ICL evidence goes somewhere slowly, plus…
… Clarke “shredding” advice published Hi there Rebecca and I went to the inquiry today and reviewed the last two days’ evidence in our latest podcast here. Yesterday Keith Todd, former CEO of ICL (80% owned by Fujitsu) gave evidence about the Pathway/Horizon project and was shown clear evidence that Fujitsu didn’t just go to…
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Jenkins wants inquiry ‘immunity’, Clarke advice published and first reviews of False Accounts the play
Pathway to Horizon disaster Hello everyone It’s been a big week at the inquiry. For the first time we’ve seen decision-makers close to the Horizon rollout getting properly cross-examined. We’re starting to see some answers come through. It wasn’t anything that dramatic, although Rebecca Thomson (on our podcast) described it as a Greek tragedy. The…
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Cipione gets two days, UKGI gets a fisking and GPOS paperback news
Experts, execs and turning Japanese Good morning Phase 2 Week 2 of the inquiry gets underway today. Charles Cipione, the inquiry’s own IT expert gives his assessment of the Horizon IT system. It’ll be interesting to hear how his examination and conclusions differ from those of Mr Justice Fraser in 2019. I’m not sure we’ll…
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What a week…
Blair, Neuberger, Grabiner, Altman et al … all these big names, and we haven’t even started on Vennells and the Post Office lot. Such an extraordinary week. I’ve put together two blog posts on the legal advice the Post Office got from Brian Altman KC, Lord Grabiner and Lord Neugberger, former President of the Supreme…
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Phase 2 Day 2 transcripts and claims Fujitsu board were unaware of Horizon problems
Hi there Just a quick one today. If you want to watch or read the conclusion to Jason Beer’s opening statement to Phase 2 of the inquiry, you can watch the youtube video here or read the transcript here. Today we will hear from the legal representatives for Subpostmasters and then, at around 4pm, the…