Hello there

I was lucky enough to attend a performance of Glitch last night at the Minghella Theatre in Reading. It’s the second play I’ve seen about the Post Office Horizon IT scandal and unlikely to be the last.

This one focuses on Pam Stubbs’ story. Pam ran a Post Office in Barkham near Wokingham, she gave evidence during the Bates v Post Office court litigation and her story featured in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

You can read all about Glitch here. I am grateful to the University of Reading’s Law School for inviting me. It was great to catch up with Pam and see so many other former Subpostmasters in the audience. I also managed to get a lovely photo of Pam, Janet Skinner, Seema Misra and Tracy Felstead – very rarely ever in the same room nowadays!

If you’re interested in the other play about the Post Office Scandal called False Accounts, you can read about that here.

Parkered up

Tim Parker, Alice Perkins’ successor as Post Office chair, gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry tomorrow. I will be there.

Apart from steering the Post Office into one of the most disastrous litigations in corporate history, it’ll be interesting to know what Parker did after Second Sight’s Ron Warmington and Ian Henderson walked into his office (several months after they’d been sacked) in December 2015 and told him in great detail about every concern they had.

That meeting took place in the presence of Jonathan Swift QC, who subsequently wrote the Swift Review (unearthed thanks to the brilliant FOI detective work of my fellow Horizon Scandal Fund trustee, Eleanor Shaikh).

Parker chose not to share the Swift Review with the Post Office board, something he was reprimanded for by Sarah Munby, the same woman who is alleged to have told Parker’s successor as chair, Henry Staunton to hang back on doling out the compensation to Subpostmasters, something she denies.

Alice Perkins projected heavy contempt and boredom when she gave evidence to the Post Office Inquiry. I’m looking forward to seeing how Parker presents and what he has to say.

Subpostmaster Social – Fri 19 July

A reminder that if you are a former Subpostmaster affected by the Horizon IT Scandal and you and your nearest or dearest would like to come to a social event in Central London on Friday 19 July please have a look at this web page for more information. Travel and a contribution towards accommodation costs may be available. Register your interest here.

Housekeeping

There is only one day of hearings at the Inquiry this week due to the general election. The re-jigged provisional timetable for the rest of the month is available here.

I’ll write up Parker’s evidence for Post Office Scandal tomorrow evening or first thing on Thursday. I would be more certain, but Private Eye newshound Richard Brooks has suggested we go for a drink after Parker’s evidence tomorrow. This may affect my newsgathering/publication coefficient. Either way I’ll aim to get you a newsletter together on Thursday morning.

Thanks to everyone who has got in touch recently and those new subscribers who have come along for the ride. It’s good to have you here.

Very best

Nick