LIVE: Post Office inquiry: watch as Tory peer gives evidence

The inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal will continue today with Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, a Conservative Peer, set to give evidence.
READ MORE: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/po...
The former MP for North East Hampshire was one of the early champions of constituents who had been caught up in the scandal and led a parliamentary campaign to investigate the Post Office.
Between 1999 and 2015 more than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted for stealing because of faulty information given by the Horizon computer system.
Read the best of our journalism: www.thetimes.co.uk/
Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times KZbin channel: kzbin.info_...
Find us on Facebook: / timesandsundaytimes
Find us on Twitter: / thetimes
Find us on Instagram: / thetimes
#livestream #postoffice #horizon

[@grahamnichols1416]

Lorn Arbuthnot and Sir Anthony Hooper are top blokes for trying to get to the bottom of this mess.

[@bobloblow7560]

The barrister is magnificent 🎉

[@8martinp1]

How can the courts and judges convict the Post Masters/Mistresses without any proof that they had taken any money? Surely if they had taken thousands of pounds it would be traceable through their bank accounts. It wasn't cash they were accused of stealing!

[@TheoPeace3228]

This is an excellent interview with Lord Arbuthnet, in which he pinpoints the issues clearly.

[@harveystork5862]

My prediction for what it's worth is that immediately after the end of the enquiry arrests will be made. Vennells, Van de Bogerd and Crichton for starters. Then who knows how many more, it's a proper rats nest.

[@grahammerry7031]

Vennells and all might well get questions under caution but there won't be a trail from her line managers to her. She will say that she was only presenting the facts as explained from her line managers. They in turn will say that they cannot remember details of conversations and as long as the paper trail runs cold, that will be that

[@user-kn9jr8dk2w]

I do hope so...if Post Office can get people jailed surely....this will be the next action to occur?

[@edwardebel1847]

At the 45 minute mark, P. Vennells still blowing smoke. Trusting that since most people don’t understand how computer programming works, she can say anything…and always using the word “robust”, which essentially means (legally) nothing…much like “world’s greatest”, or “all natural”.

[@TC-qd1zw]

Never has so much public money being spent on a white wash.

[@brightspark4817]

how strange every questions asked he has answered . everyone else cant remember

[@joerudnik9290]

Someone high up in the government ( definitely ‘high’) must have believed that the Post Office needed to be profitable. ( Government service industries rarely are.) So they decided to go after the Postmasters in the fantasy that they were thieving, or hoping they would keep paying the ‘shortages’, in order to protect their job, reputation. Despicable!!

[@sararichardson737]

Thanks for posting. Great front row seat on an horrendous behind the scenes skullduggery on the part of The Post Office

[@user-kn9jr8dk2w]

The barrister is most definitely a master...they all are in their own delivery including the top guy interjecting to clarify etc....impressive stuff but I do hope it comes to a just end for all!

[@austerepotato3159]

James Arbuthnot is nothing short of a hero!

[@Iguazu65]

It’s incredible to me that POL’s position was that a networked system could not be accessed remotely. Of course it is, it’s why it’s networked in the first place. That makes zero sense as a non networked system would make all system maintenance, bug fixes and upgrades would be done manually. It’s the very first question to ask, if reconciliations came back with different balances. Also a networked system has detailed logs per node of every person, every change or routines run on and through that node. It’s a hour’s work to map the logs to the reported variances. But they kept denying that the oblivious was not in any way a weakness and most likely the root cause. Marry that with the number of people raising support requests and concerns about their close of business totals being different to the system’s record. Again, it is too widespread and frequent NOT to question the system. But they went straight for the prosecutions against hundreds of people. As Bates said in yesterday’s hearing, the POL exec acted “like thugs in suits.”

[@davidallan5671]

I like this KC Beer who’s running the show for the crown. Watched all of yesterday’s meeting and he’s impressive.

[@GWills-ys6rd]

WHO'S NEXT? HMRC?

[@KevinWest-jr1dr]

What time doe,s it start again

[@drinksafewater]

Crown Post offices also use Horizon yet seem suspiciously 'squeaky clean' - If Fujitsu went bust then so would the Post Office and immediately so. It will be the Taxpayer who coughs up, more potholes for UK citizens than a string vest. Vennells and Co. will all be in an Open Prison for a year, and will not have to relinquish any of their bonuses or salaries.

[@kimcallaghan753]

Will the likes of Vennells and the rest of the senior parties involved from PO, Fujitsu and the Government be made to give evidence under oath? If not, why not?

[@kamakime]

Yes. In May

[@michaelcarpenter9745]

three days have been set aside for PV... I've ordered in my popcorn

[@Alan-ss3xp]

Wouldn’t it be great if enough evidence was gathered and Postwoman Paula was arrested live on here whilst making her statement?

[@launcestonmethodists9444]

Becoming pretty clear that there has been a corporate conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Hopefully PV will not be the sole scapegoat. She comes across as a puppet who had no clue what she was doing and promoted way above her level of competence. Rather like many of them tbh. I see this all over society, not just the PO x

[@grahammerry7031]

Mr Wynn Williams will advise Vennells not to say anything that may incriminate her. She like a lot of others will say " I can't recall "

[@junaidarshad6265]

Happy Eid Mubarak ✨️ 💖 💓

[@MacAJ1874]

Whats that ?

[@carolmullen4218]

Muslim easter. No idea the relevance here