Archives :
Nick Wallis
-
The Wine Gums vs The Blob
Putting together a list of Postal Affairs ministers a few years back I was reminded of a graffito written shortly after the 33 day papacy of John Paul I, which asked: “What lasts longer, a pope or a wine gum?” It seemed apt. At a time when ministers should have been getting a solid grip…
-
A Trip down Misery Lane: Surviving the Post Office on BBC1
Surviving the Post Office (co-produced and co-directed by Hayley Hassall, who has previously reported on the story) has something of the travelogue about it. Will Mellor, who played former Subpostmaster Lee Castleton in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, presents. Mellor calls his role in the ITV drama “more important than any…
-
Furious Swinson claimed Paula Vennells deceived her
During her evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry former minister Jo Swinson today highlighted the mendacity of the Post Office and what she saw as the conniving “duplicitous” behaviour of her chief civil service advisor. It all centres on the first Clarke Advice, the legal document written in July 2013 which was kept…
-
Ed Davey: Chocolate Teapot
I lost patience with Ed Davey at around 2.30pm this afternoon. It was when Jason Beer read into the record the sheer number of red flags being waved in Ed Davey’s face about the Post Office’s behaviour and its dodgy Horizon IT system from the moment he took office. On 20 May 2010, the day…
-
Pat’s Proof Points (and other McFadden Mantras)
Former Post Office minister (2007 – 2010) Pat McFadden didn’t have to say much to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, but he did have to say something. Being a campaign-hardened and experienced politician, he had no qualms about saying very little lots of times. McFadden was asked (in a number of ways) why he…
-
Comical Ken and Captain Kelly
Ken McCall was brought into the Post Office in 2016 as a non-executive director (NED) because the Post Office chairman Tim Parker thought he would be a “good fit”. We were told this was because of McCall’s experience running a delivery business (TNT) in China and being responsible for EuropCar and its IT function in…
-
Andy Dunks’ Big Problem
Fujitsu’s Andy Dunks has a problem. He signed dozens, possibly hundreds of witness statements attesting to the integrity of the Horizon IT system without, it seems, taking the relevant amount of care to see if the information he put in his witness statements was true. These witness statements were used in the successful prosecutions of…
-
Davey briefed to dismiss Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance Concerns in 2010
The first meeting between Alan Bates from the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance (JFSA) and a government minister took place on 5 October 2010. Ed Davey was, at the time, the Liberal Democrat minister responsible for the Post Office within the coalition government. The date was crucial: the trial of Seema Misra was less than a…
-
Read stands aside to focus on Inquiry
Nick Read is stepping back from frontline duties as Post Office CEO to focus on Phase 7 of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. In an all-staff newsletter, sent today, Read wrote: “Following a discussion with Post Office Chair, Nigel Railton and the Board, we have agreed that I should give my entire attention to…
-
Poor Tom
Tom Cooper was pitched into the Post Office madness quite late in the scandal. He joined UK Government Investments in 2017, and became UKGI’s man on the Post Office board in March 2018 whilst it was already embroiled in litigation with with its Subpostmasters and careering towards the first of two disastrous High Court trials.…