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Post by northwestman on Feb 18, 2024 10:55:25 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/18/former-post-office-boss-stall-horizon-compensation-payoutsA former Post Office chair said he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payouts to post office operators so the government could “limp into” the general election. Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, last month amid anger over the Horizon scandal, said the request came soon after he took up the role in December 2022. He also alleged that Nick Read, the Post Office chief executive, tried in January to dissuade the government from proceeding with blanket exonerations for operators. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Staunton, 75, said the request to slow down compensation payouts appeared to be an attempt to reduce the government’s financial liability before the general election this year.
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Post by kenwood on Feb 18, 2024 12:41:33 GMT 1
Oh dear .
More embarrassment for the Tory party .
Particularly for Badenoch who was being touted as their potential leader after Sunak .
Let’s see how this plays out , should be fun .
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Post by staffordshrew on Feb 20, 2024 11:27:17 GMT 1
The government appear to be dragging their heels on compensation in the contaminated blood and sacking of homosexuals from the armed forces cases too.
It's not a good look to appear to be hoping that some of the citizens you represent die off before you have to pay out.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2024 21:32:43 GMT 1
The government appear to be dragging their heels on compensation in the contaminated blood and sacking of homosexuals from the armed forces cases too. It's not a good look to appear to be hoping that some of the citizens you represent die off before you have to pay out. Kicking the can down the road, because they know that it will be a Labour government that will have to pick up the tab. In all honesty I believe that Labour should accept some responsibility for all 3 cases, as they were in power for a decent length of time while these were taking place. I would love to place all the blame on the Tories, but we have to be honest and realistic. |
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Post by staffordshrew on Feb 21, 2024 21:12:06 GMT 1
The government appear to be dragging their heels on compensation in the contaminated blood and sacking of homosexuals from the armed forces cases too. It's not a good look to appear to be hoping that some of the citizens you represent die off before you have to pay out. Kicking the can down the road, because they know that it will be a Labour government that will have to pick up the tab. In all honesty I believe that Labour should accept some responsibility for all 3 cases, as they were in power for a decent length of time while these were taking place. I would love to place all the blame on the Tories, but we have to be honest and realistic. Well, it isn't Labour that's kicking the can down the road, assuming Labour are going to do the honourable thing and get this sorted if they get their hands on the levers.
Without researching two of them, one, the Post Office scandal, was only just developing at the end of their tenure, rats had not been smelt in the Post Office's outright defense of the software.
I bet the Tories wish they had found a way to privatise the loss making Post Office when they privatised Royal Mail.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2024 7:45:46 GMT 1
Kicking the can down the road, because they know that it will be a Labour government that will have to pick up the tab. In all honesty I believe that Labour should accept some responsibility for all 3 cases, as they were in power for a decent length of time while these were taking place. I would love to place all the blame on the Tories, but we have to be honest and realistic. Well, it isn't Labour that's kicking the can down the road, assuming Labour are going to do the honourable thing and get this sorted if they get their hands on the levers.
Without researching two of them, one, the Post Office scandal, was only just developing at the end of their tenure, rats had not been smelt in the Post Office's outright defense of the software.
I bet the Tories wish they had found a way to privatise the loss making Post Office when they privatised Royal Mail.
True enough, but Labour were in power when Horizon was first rolled out, so some responsibility is theirs. Granted they didn't know it was an issue, but let's be honest Labour governments don't have a great track record with new software systems, the NHS patients record system being a case in point. You can also throw in the E-Borders system, the Electoral register database, ID cards and fire control systems. Even HS2 was originally a Labour idea, but they can't take the blame for the one thankfully as the Tories own that balls up completely. |
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Post by Minormorris64 on Feb 22, 2024 12:14:57 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/18/former-post-office-boss-stall-horizon-compensation-payoutsA former Post Office chair said he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payouts to post office operators so the government could “limp into” the general election. Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, last month amid anger over the Horizon scandal, said the request came soon after he took up the role in December 2022. He also alleged that Nick Read, the Post Office chief executive, tried in January to dissuade the government from proceeding with blanket exonerations for operators. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Staunton, 75, said the request to slow down compensation payouts appeared to be an attempt to reduce the government’s financial liability before the general election this year. He's not bitter...............much, and of course he MUST be telling the truth ? |
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Post by stuttgartershrew on Feb 22, 2024 13:50:52 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/18/former-post-office-boss-stall-horizon-compensation-payoutsA former Post Office chair said he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payouts to post office operators so the government could “limp into” the general election. Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, last month amid anger over the Horizon scandal, said the request came soon after he took up the role in December 2022. He also alleged that Nick Read, the Post Office chief executive, tried in January to dissuade the government from proceeding with blanket exonerations for operators. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Staunton, 75, said the request to slow down compensation payouts appeared to be an attempt to reduce the government’s financial liability before the general election this year. He's not bitter...............much, and of course he MUST be telling the truth ? Strange one this. This came to light yesterday... If this indeed the memo and evidence from Staunton then there is no mention of compensation. From the looks of it it seems to be a discussion around the Post Office, it's finances, the commercial challenge ahead (and that politicians aren't keen to hear about such challenges if there looks to be no road to profitability). And I am sure I have read that the money set aside for the compensation is not coming from the Post Office anyhow. So whether something more was said or whether Staunton got the wrong end of the stick who knows. But Munby has written to Badenoch to say... It is not true that I made any instruction, either explicitly or implicitly, to Mr. Staunton to in any way delay compensation payments. I did not. Neither Mr. Staunton’s note, nor the contemporaneous note that my office made, suggest otherwise. In fact, no mention of delaying compensation appears in either note. We discussed Post Office operational funding, not compensation funding. These two areas of spend were separately ringfenced, and it is factually wrong to suggest that cuts to compensation would have improved the Post Office’s financial position.
Which seems reasonable enough when looking to the content of Staunton's memo. So maybe Staunton has more to share. As he needs to. |
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Post by jamo on Feb 22, 2024 18:25:14 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/18/former-post-office-boss-stall-horizon-compensation-payoutsA former Post Office chair said he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payouts to post office operators so the government could “limp into” the general election. Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, last month amid anger over the Horizon scandal, said the request came soon after he took up the role in December 2022. He also alleged that Nick Read, the Post Office chief executive, tried in January to dissuade the government from proceeding with blanket exonerations for operators. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Staunton, 75, said the request to slow down compensation payouts appeared to be an attempt to reduce the government’s financial liability before the general election this year. He's not bitter...............much, and of course he MUST be telling the truth ? With respect Minor, he would not be alone in attempting to ‘stretch the truth’ in this whole sorry episode. Maybe he’s lying but he will be in good and esteemed company if he is. Personally I think he is trying to safe face and cover his arse for future investigations into this shambolic mess, very much what Badinock was doing when she gave her cringeworthy performance at the despatch box. |
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Post by staffordshrew on Feb 22, 2024 20:01:29 GMT 1
Some might be having their worries compounded:
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Post by kenwood on Feb 22, 2024 20:08:43 GMT 1
I missed Badinock’s cringeworthy performance Jamo, but I did get to see Badenoch’s performance which was just as bad I would imagine 👍
Sorry owd lad, couldn’t resist 😂
The once rising star of the Tory party has been caught out being less than truthful lately . Ben Bradshaw in particular has questioned her involvement and discussions with the LGBT group . Not good as she is also the equalities minister .
The Canadians aren’t too pleased with her when she maintained that she was still having discussions with them over a trade deal.
News to them by all accounts .
So, what can we make of her latest performance which you have pointed out .
No, she’s had her day in the limelight and Penny Mordaunt is now Queen Bee .
She likes a fight does our Penny .
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Post by kenwood on Feb 22, 2024 20:38:27 GMT 1
Some might be having their worries compounded:
First off The Post Office scandal. I bought the book and sat down to read through it which is quite an ordeal . It’s difficult to keep up with the legal challenges , for me anyway, but I managed to work my way through it. The investigative journalism is mind blowing . Well worth a read. Now catching up with the COVID debacle . Perhaps a bit unfair of me to use that description but the series on tv really highlights what could have been done better . I’ll leave it at that as hindsight is a wonderful thing but not many come out of the pandemic in a good light . Finally the contaminated blood scandal is to be made into a series as pointed out by Staffordshrew . Surely there cannot be any more issues to be brought into the public domain for scrutiny by tv . Apart from the Mone scandal concerning PPE . I would look forward to that being aired as I think it would , once again , show Hancock and Dido Harding up as complete and utter chancers . How they got away with things beggars belief . |
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Post by jamo on Feb 22, 2024 23:04:40 GMT 1
I missed Badinock’s cringeworthy performance Jamo, but I did get to see Badenoch’s performance which was just as bad I would imagine 👍 Sorry owd lad, couldn’t resist 😂 . Sorry Mon, my bad. I will try harder next time. I should have paid more attention at school but I was too busy taking it from the food servers |
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Post by kenwood on Feb 23, 2024 6:15:07 GMT 1
I missed Badinock’s cringeworthy performance Jamo, but I did get to see Badenoch’s performance which was just as bad I would imagine 👍 Sorry owd lad, couldn’t resist 😂 . Sorry Mon, my bad. I will try harder next time. I should have paid more attention at school but I was too busy taking it from the food servers 😂😂😂 Fair play, made me chuckle 😂👍 |
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Post by northwestman on May 16, 2024 18:37:20 GMT 1
A former Post Office executive has told the inquiry into the Horizon scandal that she blocked Paula Vennells’s phone number after the company’s ex-CEO contacted her asking for help to “plug memory gaps” and to “avoid an independent inquiry”. Lesley Sewell, who was chief information officer at the Post Office until she left in 2015, said that she had subsequently been contacted by her former boss four times in 2020 and 2021. Sewell said in her witness statement that in March 2020, Vennells, who had resigned as chief executive the year before, emailed her to ask for a call after being asked to appear before a select committee of MPs. She said Vennells told her she had “been asked at short notice to appear before a … select committee on all things Horizon … and need to plug some memory gaps! My hope is this might help avoid an independent inquiry but to do so, I need to be well prepared.” The inquiry continues, with Vennells due to testify for three days next week. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/16/former-post-office-executive-tells-horizon-inquiry-she-blocked-paula-vennells-number |
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