and: a peek behind the compensation curtain

Hello!

It is 4.55pm and I am currently trying to cope with that creeping sense of sleep-deprivation familiar to anyone who works nights or shift patterns.

I presented the TalkTV breakfast show this morning, and despite being very early to bed last night, it wasn’t quite early enough.

I was presenting the BBC Surrey breakfast show in 2010 when I first came across the Post Office story, so you would think I should know what I’m doing when it comes to early mornings, but the last time I set a work alarm at 3.15am was in 2015, which feels a very long time ago.

Back then it was radio, where you can rock up in a hoodie and pair of jeans and spend the first hour of the programme of the glowering at various computer monitors whilst inhaling pints of coffee. TV is a different beast. You’re in a suit, wearing make-up and there are bright lights shining at you.

When I have finished this newsletter I think I’ll crawl into bed for a nap.

Oh, it’s Post Office news you want? Why didn’t you say?

Staunton’s a goner

Over the weekend, the Business Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, sacked the Post Office chairman Henry Staunton. The news was broken by Sky News’ business editor Mark Kleinman, who told his viewers there had been some tension between the government and the Post Office board for some time, but the straw that broke the camel’s back was a row over who should replace Ben Tidswell as the Post Office’s Senior Independent Director. Hmm.

Yesterday on Laura Kuenssberg on BBC1, the Business Secretary said the reason she sacked Staunton was “not just about Horizon, it’s about the entire business model, how we make it work, that we needed someone who could chair a board that was able to deal with these things effectively.”

The Guardian reports Badenoch hinting more heads might roll.

Staunton gave a woefully glib performance alongside Nick Read at the Business Select Committee Hearing in June last year. He is unlikely to be missed.

If you would like to hear me and Lord Arbuthnot speak to BBC 5 Live’s Stephen Nolan about the departure of Staunton and his possible replacement, listen here (1hr5mins into the programme).

During our discussion, Arbuthnot repeatedly tried to rule himself out of the running as Staunton’s replacement, but he also (under pressure) appeared to concede that if asked, he might consider it. The campaign starts here.

Being blamed for a Post Office robbery

In the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, we saw the harrowing true story of Martin Griffiths, the Subpostmaster who took his own life after being hounded by the Post Office. On top of being chased to make inexplicable Horizon discrepancies good, using his and his family’s money, the Post Office held Martin partly-responsible for a robbery at his branch, claiming he wasn’t properly following security procedures.

It turns out the Post Office has a nice line in blaming Subpostmasters for robberies, as revealed by the BBC’s Sima Kotecha. Sima’s Newsnight programme interviewed two Subpostmasters who were robbed and, after terrifying experiences, found themselves being chased by an unsympathetic Post Office, who held them responsible for allowing the crims to get away with the cash and charged them accordingly. Read their stories here.

Capture cobblers

This is an interesting development, first raised to me several months ago by Kevan Jones MP (though, brilliant journalist as I am, I did nothing public about it).

Data from one of Horizon’s predecessors, Capture, has apparently been used in the prosecution of Subpostmasters. The i newspaper made this their lead story on Thursday, and it’s subsequently been followed up in an excellent piece by Computer Weekly’s Karl Flinders.

Unlike Horizon (which was developed, rolled out and maintained by Fujitsu), Capture was designed in-house and possibly rolled out to rival the growing popularity of a piece of bespoke book-keeping software written by a Subpostmaster called Richard Jackson.

Mr Jones has been collecting information about the Capture system (and how Subpostmasters were prosecuted with its data) for a while now. Could it be a new front in this scandal?

Capture was mentioned during our Nolan chat and Lord Arbuthnot made the point that a large number of people who used this software will no longer be with us – whether any court files or records of the Capture software remain at the Post Office will be fascinating to try to uncover. As Karl’s piece points out – the Post Office is refusing to play ball over Capture at the moment. I wonder what it knows…

Compensation cobblers

I’ve managed to get my hands on a letter to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry by the barrister Paul Marshall (pictured). It was written on 9 January and reveals the extent to which the Post Office are mucking people about as Subpostmasters attempt to make claims for compensation. Do have a read.

Incidentally, if you want to receive posts I put up on my blog via email, there is a little email sign-up box on most pages of the Post Office Scandal website (like this one – scroll down). Simply add your email address (it’s free) and in future you’ll get a piping hot Post Office Scandal story delivered to your inbox within a few minutes of its initial upload. Sadly the article on the Marshall letter is the first piece I’ve written this month. I haven’t been able to write as much as I’d like, due to being so busy. In the last few weeks I have tried to focus on this newsletter in order to bring a bit of value to new subscribers, but the whole point of asking for crowdfunding is so I can use it to create some free-at-the-point-of-consumption journalism. That way everyone can see and share it.

If all is this news to you, please do go and have a look at Post Office Scandal and its predecessor website Post Office Trial. Both are entirely powered by the donations I’ve been lucky enough to receive from you over the past five years, which means you have been directly responsible for what I hope is becoming an important public resource. So thank you.

There’s a train a-coming

I’m spending the next three days trying to sleep, being asleep, wishing I was asleep and wondering what’s happening as the TalkTV breakfast show goes on around me.

On Friday I will have the chance to pull together all the news lines from this week and send you another newsletter.

If you haven’t yet had a look at the various live events I’ve got lined up between the end of March and the middle of May, please do have a look at the Live Events page on Post Office Scandal.

I am absolutely delighted so many wonderful Subpostmasters have been kind enough to agree to give up their time to come and share their stories with audiences in England.

One day I hope we’ll get some theatres in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales interested in hosting some events. I can only apologise if we’re not coming anywhere near you.

Thanks to everyone who has come on board over the last few days, it’s great to see so many new faces around here.

Don’t worry, I can’t actually see your faces.

Keep well!

Nick