Just MPs hammering Post Office boss over Horizon scandal in Select Committee grilling

Nick Read got the grilling you've been waiting for since Christmas today at the Business and Trade Committee. Even Jonathan Gullis got in on the fun.
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[@Daibenswan]

Isn't it strange how MPs demand straight clear answers in Select Committees, yet struggle to do exactly that, when asked by various media outlets.

[@DementedSheepCrap]

Amen! Why has this not got 1 million likes??

[@maxine2798]

Perhaps the journalists should say “answer like this is an enquiry”. Watch them squirm

[@adriancoppin977]

When you’re corrupt…you do anything…

[@Batteredhoop]

Or when they are facing committees

[@jonahdave5826]

I was only just saying something similar to my wife and then I looked at the comments :) Perhaps these videos should be used to embarrass MPs when they refuse to give straight answers.

[@simonellis9038]

He’s been the CEO of Post Office for 4yrs and yet still knows absolutely nothing about what happened. Dreadful

[@iansteel5569]

Shocking! I could do his job, I don't know what went wrong also.

[@jonathanbarfoot3795]

…and yet he’s taken his millions in pay, bonus and shares

[@cornishhh]

Not that he'll admit to. He's employed to give maximum return to his shareholders. Destroying the brand and paying compensation is the last thing he wants to be held responsible for. I doubt he has much interest in morality.

[@gill1342]

Knowing you were coming to answer to this committee wouldn’t you know the answers to every question asked !!!!! How arrogant!!!

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

It amazes me how these people who are paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a year apparently know nothing about anything or are responsible for any decisions in their organisations. .... so what exactly are they paid for?

[@rongates1234]

He just kept AVOIDING answering EVERY question

[@patgdgerard9929]

Wow congratulations to the post office.CEO more than 4 years in the job and getting nearly £500k a year plus bonuses and he didn’t even bother or have the decency to reply to any question???? This is worse than slapping those poor innocent postmaster’s in the face . We taxpayers pay for that it pure madness.

[@richardbentham6760]

This guy is a total fraud. He knows exactly when the post office knew back door access was available but wont say it publicly.

[@iansteel5569]

If he doesn't know, why is he in charge?

[@cbtube1677]

Because he will have to expose who was stealing the money

[@Glassjar34]

Fujitsu and POL knew since 2009. They suppressed it with NDAs and unaccountability. Stephen Bradshaw is a prime example of malicious incompetence without acknowledging accountability and responsibility.

[@andysedgley]

He is paid a great deal of money to ensure he "knows" as little as possible.

[@lottieallen9458]

​@iansteel5569 This is partly why he is no longer in post...

[@daviddenham1511]

These scumbags should be in front a jury not a select committee…..

[@jnicholls21]

They'd be fucked.

[@johnrowland3105]

And that list of names grows ever longer

[@paulperniskie8096]

Nah sad but lieing

[@CathieStead]

Our country is so corrupt. From the top down

[@StudioComposer]

You're absolutely correct! Corruption and sleaze isn't merely consequential to situation and circumstance. It RUNS our country, to benefit the wealthy and corrupt, and to the detriment of all hardworking over-burdened British citizens viewed as nothing more than 'income-generating units' to line their pockets. Britain is done for sure.

[@robinparkes988]

The sheer arrogance of this man. To think he has been the top man at The Post Office for 4 years, and he thinks he can come to this enquiry with no intentions of answering any of their questions takes my breath away. But, on the other hand it doesn’t surprise me. Any one would think he didn’t realise there was a scandal until 2 minutes before he entered the enquiry room.

[@garytoner4563]

He is doing what all heads of massive organisations do when faced with crises. Damage limitation. The belief being that the less said the better. He knows he has legal obligations to appear before the committee, so he appears. But again like many other ceo's he deliberately tries to walk the line between not saying too much to badmouth the organisation, and not been held to account as being obstructive. To us it seems like arrogance, to him its reputation damage limitation.

[@robinparkes988]

@@garytoner4563 I fully agree with you Gary, I know why he’s avoiding giving straight answers, it’s a damage limitation exercise. But to try to give the impression that even after 4 yrs years as CEO, he has no idea as to what happened is insulting to any reasonable minded person.

[@TwoBassed]

He takes his lead from the same politicians who never give a straight answer when in front of enquiries!

[@robinparkes988]

@@TwoBassed You are 100% right. The lot of them, apart from a rare few MP’s, they are masters of not answering any questions. Slippery as eels

[@daviddenham1511]

Did it NOT occur to any of these disgraceful people that 700 sub postmasters could all be stealing money at the same time!!?….hope they all go to jail

[@mharbinson8952]

That's what I think too. Seems against probability or reasonable thought that would happen even if they didn't know about the horizon issue.

[@donnaharris8097]

Psychotic corporate greed merged with power - it's a machine that wouldn't have stopped and would have got bigger and more malicious ....

[@InaMacallan]

They seem to have assumed that their expensive new computer system was finding fraud that had been happening for years, rather than checking that the system was actually working. Which might have been the case in the beginning, but not for new postmasters employee long after the Horizon system had been installed.

[@carlcorver]

Unfortunately the prosecutions and accusations were not all made at the same time..... It was a period of over 10 years from 1999 to 2014 which is why the Post Office got away with it because it spread over a number of years and no one really investigated these miscarriage of justices

[@jeremyhares979]

They should have realised there was something else going on !

[@zeusgb]

The CEO was avoiding questions, waffling and trying his very best to not implicate anyone. Truly disgusting.

[@philcowin2507]

Those who took innocent people to court need to be taken to court and convicted and put in prison. This is disgraceful.

[@marcct24]

surely Nick read should be sacked. He has been in charge for 4 years but appears to know absolutely nothing. That must disqualify him for his role mustn't it?

[@andysedgley]

Nick Read knows everything, but prefers to keep a bargepole between himself and "the scandal" so he can leave the job with a nice pension before the PO has no money for such things.

[@MrPaddy924]

An untrustworthy CEO being grilled by some equally untrustworthy MPs, when, in reality, both sides have some serious explaining to do. And let's not forget that the issue they are discussing has only gained prominence because of an ITV drama which made people angry.

[@grahammerry7031]

Andrew Bridgen raised this in the house in 2015 but was ignored

[@ChristianTonnies]

id disagree

[@i0i]

Why are those MPs on the committee equally untrustworthy?

[@boogiewoogie9770]

One of the reasons this all came to light and supported the campaign group pretty much from the start and opened a lot of doors for them to gain access to legal representation was a Conservative MP. Other MPs joined pretty quickly after. I sense a lot of these anti MP rants here are an attempt at whataboutism. On behalf of who I wonder? There are MPs that have questions to answer but not all of them.

[@wickedwitchoftheeast88]

​@@i0ibecause they aren't doing this because its right they're fucking panicking because of the public are seething and are demanding proper justice and compensation for the subpostmasters when it comes to elections and paying compensation MP's then demand answers hoping we will forget they ignored it all for years because they are doing something now 🙄

[@bostonbikebits6539]

So the Post Office CEO says his company gains no benefit from dragging their heals, yet this has been going on for years. They have demonstrably done everything they possibly could from day one to stop the truth coming out.

[@andysedgley]

It will benefit Nick Read Ltd. if he can delay things long enough to walk away with a handsome golden handshake.

[@mickogden2223]

The bosses of the post office should be personally held accountable with jail sentences & criminal compensation payable

[@James-bc1jk]

Also the government for letting it go this long

[@billgreen576]

If you have been (or would have been) a self employed sub postmaster for 20 years making £50kpa that's £1 million, plus pension, plus property appreciation, plus reputation, plus PTSD, plus the pressures on family members. And some could have been SPM for 40 years. There has to be custodial sentences looking at those who were CEO's of the PO and Fujitsu.

[@JazzyKex78]

It’s outrageous this happened. 14 yrs of Tory government and they sit here in a select committee pointing the finger! It’s a bit late - 10yrs ago, all of this would have been helpful especially to the SubPMs! I also want Fujitsu and the Post Office to create a substantial pot of money, that can be used for future court cases, re-training for SubPMs etc. I’m ashamed of my country over this!

[@billgreen576]

@@JazzyKex78 Don't be ashamed at your country. Thanks to higher echelon lies (upon which the country and the empire were built if you study history not on the school curriculum) most people knew FA about it. And they tried damn hard to keep it that way. What we want now is for plod to go and feel the collars of the legions of liars and for them to get significant prison sentences for their very serious crimes. Perjury, malfeasance, fraud and so on.

[@wickedwitchoftheeast88]

​@@JazzyKex78 because they're fucking panicking over the fact this was happening when they were in office and now its all come out and the public are seething they're trying to keep all the attention on the PO and Fujitsu rather than admit that they didn't give two fucks when James Arbuthnot and other MPs who did listen to the subpostmasters and tried to help and told the government what was happening. If you wanna make an MP's arsehole go and loosen their bowels a massive scandal under their leadership will do that. Plus its also election year they want our votes to stay in power. The only MP I eould vote for to be PM is James Arbuthnot, as for the rest I wouldn't even bother registering they're all lying useless twats who talk bollocks

[@Knapps62]

Why is it a CEO never seems to know the facts when questioned?.

[@andysedgley]

They only know the facts that it suits them to know. Money talks, but even more money conveniently dulls the memory.

[@mac-vl4ib]

High courts the answer to this mob jail time

[@SLYDIT]

FOUR YEARS and he hasnt bothered to ask questions... TIME FOR JAIL

[@tysonator5433]

The CEO was saying everything he could to not implicate any one before his time what a stiff upper lip to the old boy tie network.

[@jam99]

It's what these pricks get paid such high salaries for. The ability to talk and say nothing.

[@James-bc1jk]

Please shut up there all the same take the money and run and nothing will ever be done

[@jam99]

@@James-bc1jk No, they are quite happy to continue to sit and take the money. There's no running involved unless they decide it is time to resign. A CEO's job is largely to protect the company.

[@intergalactickoala665]

Undoubtedly, the Post Office and Fujitsu hold the majority of the blame, but there's something almost amusing about seeing MPs that have been around since the time these grotesque actions occurred pointing the finger as though absolving themselves of all guilt. Their constituents begged for their help. They didn't care. They didn't listen. Now, a TV programme comes out and, being MPs, they want to look good. It's all shit and that's a tragedy.

[@and2rew]

If you watched the programme you will find that a number of MPs tried to get answers for their affected constituents but can up against a brick wall of obfuscation.

[@intergalactickoala665]

That wasn't my point,@@and2rew . My observation isn't about whether they were asking the questions now, it's that they're asking these questions YEARS after the fact and numerous attempts made by their constituents to get these wet blankets to look into this, as it was clearly untoward. They did nothing until this moment - conveniently at a time where the general election draws near, the Tories suffer from a nigh all-time low in support and the general public has been made very aware of what's been going on.

[@martinphillips9686]

All parties involved in this fraud fujitsu and post office should go to jail until the sub postmasters get compensated out of their pockets not the tax payers pockets. Perhaps the post office should be shut down for good

[@judithwallssmith9627]

Fujitsu have not come out with the truth in JAPAN even today as the Japanese people now realise Fujitsu hid behind the name Horizon in UK. It is jail time for Fujitsu bosses should the Post Offices bosses get jail terms

[@user-df9pr4dc1m]

Of course, it is an election year.

[@alext2933]

Just when you think you could not possibly think any less of Post Office Execs, they pull this out of the bag. BRAVO!

[@barneymcgroo5805]

These need to have the same legal standing as a court of law. People sitting before the committee should have to swear an oath about telling the truth and those that are found to lie should spend time at his majesties pleasure till they learn to be honest. These don’t serve any real purpose as is shown by the fact that you can not answer any question directly and get away with it.

[@eljay5746]

The lady behind Mr Read is illustrating what the general public think about his evidence (waffle & lies)

[@robinoconnor1203]

Post office bosses still trying to protect the business. Four years running the company, yet still claims not to know key information. The rot is still there.

[@janeday9148]

Senior management in the Post Office who were part of this terrible miscarriage of justice should be prosecuted ,it is vital that as a society we can trust our institutions & trust has been lost in too many in recent years the Justice System being one of them

[@matthewn1805]

If a CEO knows so little about his own organisation surely he has no place leading that organisation.

[@mikegartland2953]

Bullshitting, lies, and memory lost, well who'd have thought. Some of these bastards need jail time!.

[@isabellewhite3505]

They must rec legal charges, enormous corporate legal fines, and in some cases, imprisonment

[@stephenbarrett8000]

This wordsmith epitomises the problems within institutions.

[@adrianvassallo5630]

This guy should answer the Questions put to him instead of still covering things up we know the truth

[@DelosFive]

Oh but they’ve only just “come to light”, according to this duplicitous worm. Imagine trying to use the same weasel words in your job, if you’d been accused of a miscarriage of justice and perverting the course of justice.

[@pauldevenport28320]

If they don’t answer the questions,put them in prison simple!

[@fang_xianfu]

I actually think he's right that his job is to run today's post office and pay compensation, rather than investigate the faults of the past in detail. If the post office was doing the investigation itself, we would be saying that they were marking their own homework. Some of this problem stems from a bank account where no records of payments seem to have been kept... that's going to be extremely difficult.

[@dbrown3582]

It's the usual farce, someone trying to deny any and all responsibility, meantime their employees go through hell, it reminds me of all these people not answering questions in all of these expensive inquiries.

[@pamelagartner3759]

He just wanted to draw a line and say, “Nothing to see here”. He’s also acutely aware that he’s in the firing line, too

[@petermorffew9851]

My father worked for the post office all of his life. He saw various circumstances where individuals were investigated by the post office and they were assumed to be guilty before being proved to be guilty. On various occassions when reluctantly allowed the individuals went through the accounts and found the fault. But the investigators were not keen to re-assess the accounts.

[@anne-mariemarshall]

This is sadly the calibre of many of our [so called] captains of industry. Personally I find it a total disgrace that these senior managers are allowed to behave as they do,come before a committee and not be able or willing to answer straight forward questions, treat the committee with disdain and take over inflated wages and bonuses. I feel quite strongly that the people involved in this scandal who knew what was happening and did nothing need to be identified, dragged [no doubt kicking and screaming] before the courts and on summary conviction handed very substantial prison sentences and in addition be made to pay back their I'll gotten gain i.e. their bonuses which ultimately are akin to proceeds of their criminal activities 😮😮😮

[@Frithogar]

These MPs who are grilling the PO boss themselves have had years to ask questions about something that had been known about for nearly two decades. The English voters need to ask themselves why, only now, the people they put in power are starting to do what they should have been doing years ago.

[@patriciamargaret19565]

@Frithogar - English voters? What about the Scottish voters - around 100 Scottish sub-postmasters were also involved in this injustice yet it's not been highlighted EVER to the best of my recollection in Holyrood and I'm still awaiting a reply from my SNP MP on the subject.

[@EmpathyWillLeadUsForward]

It's all just an act really. Trying to divert public apathy - like anyone really cares about the post office crap, except the people that are of course victims of it and I have empathy for them. However, this whole debacle - these people are being paid to sit here and ask questions when they're literally not getting answers. They're just words, it's all a performance for us.

[@JSmith19858]

Yeah. Its just grandstanding with time to an election running out.

[@adamgrimsley2900]

Well said

[@robsawalker]

It's such a shock MPs did nothing. It's almost like voting in a man who had been sacked for lying... twice... as our Prime Minister was in some way an indicator of how self-interested, greedy and dishonest many in the Tory party are. Weird.

[@melanielatham5665]

The lady sat behind Reid is shaking her head in disbelief of some of his answers 🤨

[@Aw-co8ir]

The lady next to her is Jo Hamilton.

[@jtlampsu2]

"My job today, is to run the post office"... so why are some of the investigators, STILL employed by the post office? Ok, so they may not be "investigating" anymore, but they're still picking up a decent wage/bonuses?

[@dianefleming9765]

His answers are a clear example of how those in power are allowed to evade accountability over and over again by side stepping difficult questions and kicking the ball down the road. Meanwhile they enjoy the fruits of their greed whilst ordinary people are humiliated and de valued. Where did the old UK go ? I am left pondering whether it ever existed or are are the elite just less adept at cover up. Either way its very sad.

[@tjfSIM]

Why does it feel like no one at the post office seems to know anything about any of this? They talk about this 'scandal' as if it happened on its own, without any human intervention.

[@donnaharris8097]

Computa says No ....

[@ZooHeretic]

@@donnaharris8097 computer says no, well maybe, yes, no, actually not sure according to the Post Office management

[@tjfSIM]

@@jennycolville Yes exactly. Everyone seems to be pleading ignorance and/or passing the buck. Best one was Stephen Bradshaw blaming the solicitors for making him sign his own witness statement 🙄🤦‍♂

[@fingermau5_]

It fascinates me that these jokers have been called to an enquiry about a specific issue and are unwilling to show they have done their homework so they can actually give answers for a serious situation. Just goes to show the level of contempt the Post Office are showing about this utter calamity! It’s disgusting.(thank you for correcting me )

[@DelosFive]

Incompetence and duplicity followed up by contemptuous negligence

[@DeShark88]

"I've only been here 4 years, how would I know if we've dragged our feet for the last 20? Certainly, under my watch things haven't moved any faster, but you know, every sub postmaster we screwed over that dies in the interim, is one less complaining. Many of these people whose lives we destroyed were in their 60s, with the strain of something like this lingering over their heads, their days must surely be numbered now?"

[@stuartcollins82]

He keeps saying he's committed to getting to the bottom of this and understanding what happened, yet that's what this committee is trying to do, and he's preventing.

[@angussoutter7824]

They are corrupt liars an people believe they should doff their caps to them my god grow a pair England and ditch them they are an anchor on your lives

[@user-uv2ks3yv6o]

It's the Post Office, Royal Mail is a different business.

[@robertdunnett5022]

Totally unacceptable. This man needs firing. Disgusting

[@davidworthington7310]

Where is Paula Vennels in all this? She should be held accountable

[@paulmoore4344]

To summarise, they simply DO NOT CARE and think they can ride this out unscathed "the relationship is between the public and the individual Post Office" translates into "why should we give a f@ck?".

[@juffjaff]

A light must always shine on the staggering inequality in wealth in this country, and the problems that arise because of it. This scandal is an example of such inequalities and I have genuine hatred for the humans at fault.

[@user-is3pb4hb5h]

You've stated the whole situation perfectly - shame on all those responsible and jail should be now awaiting !

[@user-hp5jz5ji7g]

I am at a loss how the P.O. could prosecute so many peeps without questions being asked.and what was the CPS doing? It's disgusting. Hard working cheerful people being slung into prison, their lives destroyed, yet it was only after a chanel 4 programme suddenly the P.O. and Fujtsu admit they KNEW all the time the system was buggered. Heads should roll

[@davidpearn2484]

Funny how they're all sorry now ffs.

[@user-is3pb4hb5h]

... and jail for all those proved guilty, especially the CEO & management, also ALL bonus's retrieved and added to the fund for all those affected !

[@TheSuzberry]

Compost the Wealthy.

[@martinshannon-hayes1418]

The British class system. Waffling in a posh accent while saying nothing, taking no responsibility, and facing no accountability while the working class go to prison, see their lives collapse and sometimes in the worst case scenarios die from stress or suicide. Why does this remind me of listening to Sunak or Johnson and any number of their cronies. The only thing that is certain is that none of the people involved will ever see the I side of a prison cell.

[@stuartrobertson4714]

British NA English

[@petermorffew9851]

This Horizon scandal is absolutely horrendous. Individual post masters hounded to hand over their own money to cover short falls. Then having done this it was treated by the post office as an admission of guilt. But what is even more shocking as this has gone on for decades and Fujitsu has hid the faults in its software Shifty Sunak has given Fujitsu more contracts for the flood warnings, Foreign Office phone system world wide and the national alert s which has proved not to be working properly. Sunak has a lot to answer about these new multi million pound contracts for Fujitsu.

[@Notangryjustdisappointed]

Bet the targets were known to be cooperative Types ,good saver$ too Bet the people who ostracized friends and family were test subjects too

[@audreymcgready4329]

This is an utter disgrace. I am so sick of what is happening in this country. People need to be going to prison and bonuses need to be paid back too. Like Stephen Flynn said. Between this, Grenfell, The blood disaster and so much more. We get the same treatment.

[@margaretnoakes9868]

Totally agree

[@lynnhickinbotham3784]

I agree

[@organictraining]

Agree…and not to forget to mention the water companies, the banks, Offsted, ppe, the failures of the Truss leadership…. The list goes on….. feels like we are in a Monty python sketch…. What have the Tories ever done for us??

[@Ppioneer2005]

Windrush debacle et al

[@triciastewart5529]

Totally agree. Why does the taxpayer fund these greedy businesses failures - the bail out of the banks after the banking crash, water companies who have ripped us off for years being given government (our) money to upgrade systems to stop the polluting our rivers and seas with raw sewage, and now this?!

[@marcct24]

"I dont think I can give you a straight answer on that". Yup. you got that right!

[@the_one_eyed_man_is_cursed]

A sad indictment of the general selfishness and greed of priviledged people. The British Public is watching very closely. This is potentially the stuff of revolutions and WE will eventually become so frustrated with our corrupted governance that we will that tear down not only the Post Office but Westminster, too. These morlocks must go!

[@tonymaroni8773]

All those who enabled the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history should now be investigated, charged and imprisioned plus pay back any monies they recieved in bonuses etc this includes, the Post Office Board, Senior Managers, Lawyers both Corporate and Public plus MPs holding oversight over the Post Office, there can be nomore excuses or cover ups.

[@Royboy50]

They’re trying to get to bottom of a lot of things ,they were pretty quick to bottom the victims

[@KevinLyda]

I have two questions I haven't heard anyone ask. First, did the post office pay tax on the excess payments from postmasters? It seems like this was unreported income. Second, the post office claims they didn't keep records of those payments. If they didn't keep records, can the records of the postmasters be a substitute source of truth? If not, why not?

[@wladniem]

good questions

[@Ll-ij2jh]

It doesn’t sound like they did, as one of the MP’s said they didn’t keep records past 2005 I think, personally I think it went into a slush fund which probably paid their bonuses

[@user-zr6ee6lb9m]

Wait, they are saying they didn't keep track of the money the PMs "paid back." What. The. Fuck?!

[@KevinLyda]

@@user-zr6ee6lb9m yep. It was in this testimony. He said they keep track of it now because it's a business which prompted the question, "it wasn't a business then?" Valid question, just curious about the tax issue. I think they should pay back the money based on information from the postmasters *and* not be allowed to deduct that against any taxes they owe since they didn't pay taxes on it when they got it.

[@garyrichardson8934]

So how did the money get paid back, presumably by cheque. I can't believe they just stuck sums of between £10k - £75k on the table in cash. Their will be an audit trail and the govt need to press the banks concerned to provide details of what PO account the money went in to.

[@StudioComposer]

So where is Vennells in these enquiries? Why ask the incumbent CEO whether he thought the statements made to parliament in 2015 were wrong (who of-course dodged out in the style of any well-versed politician), when it is Vennells herself that should be answering such questions. This is about unearthing perjury and criminality for heaven's sake, so the fact that Vennells resigned her position is irrelevant for criminal investigations. C'mon, how/where is she hiding amidst all of this?!

[@sonofednawelthorpe8609]

The PO and Fujitsu knew about the software glitch and still prosecuted the innocent rather than come clean and now apparently they have no records. There should be lengthy prison sentences dealt out.

[@bluehazeburnout]

No point being absolutely appalled NOW when people have had their lives ruined, and in some cases ended because of this. People are DEAD because of this.

[@tonybullion2537]

And the dead postmasters’ families will not get a payout from what I understand. If this is so then it will be utterly unforgivable, the families have suffered from the fallout and lost a loved one too!

[@ChristopherDowning]

The trouble with these MPs is they aren't used to cross-examination - so it's like they never really land a punch. Watch Darren Jones to see how to do it. The MP is showboating to his constituents - but it's all to no effect. "Didn't you do this?" "No." Pointless waste of time.

[@Richard-Mac]

To be fair to Gullis, I am still amazed he can manage full sentences.

[@tilley6351]

Best to get Owen Jones or Ian Hislop to question these CEOs and MPs alike.

[@samnichols4361]

I don't think that currently they're there for anything other than to showboat. The CEO knows he is there for a tongue lashing. The real fight is happening within the public inquiry - even the MPs don't seem to be aware of a lot of the evidence that has been taken there (mostly because until, for many of them, they only learned about this through the drama

[@Lordofthegeeks108]

So to sum it up, the post office is stalling for time to get all of those complicit in this blatant cover-up out the doors with their severance packages and pensions intact. Meanwhile the people whose lives and reputations they destroyed can't even expect answers to simple questions. All that's been really achieved is MP's getting an opportunity to morally grandstand and churn out meaningless soundbites for election season but ultimately proving how powerless they are to their corporate masters.

[@redtop1705]

The chief executive should all be held Accountable for the failings and jailed if necessary Many lives have been ruined.

[@helenmiddlemas5075]

4 years!!! Unbelievable

[@robertmawby3021]

And how much money has this joker taken home in those 4 years??😢

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

....and in 4 years apparently somehow knows nothing about anything at all in his organisation! Presumably he goes to the office wearing a blindfold and earplugs to achieve that.

[@daviddenham1511]

Oh, so the post office is conducting the enquiry into the post office themselves??….gosh, that sounds fair and impartial!!….this country is so broken. …….No one is accountable for anything anymore

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

Oh the folks who actually graft are always held responsible for failings but weirdly the more you get paid the less that applies it seems.

[@532bluepeter1]

My local Post Office was closed for several protracted spells last year due to computer problems. Will it ever be right?

[@daviddenham1511]

@@ChoppingtonOtter exactly

[@tilley6351]

All this lead to 10 Downing Street

[@JohnMartin-oh6bf]

Anyone in power or position is above all law

[@normality3848]

The way I see it, is, if you were to rob a post office, you would receive a much harsher prison sentence as opposed to robbing a bank. The reason was always known to be, it was a crown protected premises. Surely the crown should be liable along with the government for the huge reparations needed to rectify their wholly unjust actions?

[@HARDMANV1]

Shame on them .. even now there putting very high ended legal teams in place to still fight these people and try to reduce the amounts they get 😡😡😡disgusting, disgraceful people. GET THEM PAID!!!!!!

[@allenp920]

Wasn’t me, wasn’t there, not me guv, didn’t see me do it.

[@donincognito189]

I've seen greased piglets who are less slippery than Nick Read

[@Alex-yu3wg]

The 'hidden' biggies yet to be highlighted are: Chair and boards during the whole of this and the processes, monitory amounts and method of payment of this 'cheap' compensation being paid. In the US it would be close to $100million each if it went to court there.

[@andysedgley]

And the then Gen Sec of the National Federation of Subpostmasters, George Thomson, who sided with the Post Office, and threw his members under the bus. Because like Nick "I know nothing, me from Barcelona" Read here, it was in his personal financial interest to do so.

[@gaenordeacon9431]

Mr Read is expert at answering a question and saying nothing. It’s quite an art.

[@Aubury.Spartacus-Jones]

You would think that in 4 years this guy would have made himself an expert on the in's and outs of this scandal - however he seems to know sod all about it. He should just put his hands up and admit the Post Office behaved appallingly, and by the end of January the Post Office should pay all of the victims in full. What a tw%t!

[@phgkeets12]

You'd think he'd have a rough timeline of events wouldn't you even if its just years

[@P3nguin12]

Yeah that was pretty disappointing to me. It's pretty much the biggest thing to happen to the organisation and yet he doesn't know a lot about it? I don't get it. Shouldn't be an exec.

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

Laughing all the way to the bank. 😠

[@flamingosaregreat]

He does know. His lawyers have advised him to say he doesn't .

[@toriesdontgettazered7464]

If you shut your eyes i swear you can hear Gove talking 😅😅😅

[@paulrichards6894]

he does

[@MW-ml5eq]

Absolutely mental that if it wasn’t for a TV show, this would not be spoken about right now

[@patrickguinnane]

It's quite impressive how they found an even bigger snake to lead the Royal Mail then the one that went before. Well done.

[@beezig]

By refusing to give a straight answer, Nick Read has insulted every person involved in this case, absolutely disgusting to watch

[@saraswatkin9226]

Go to court during repossession hearings by banks and see how they get away with false accounting with a smile on the lawyers faces!. Britain is the leader of corruption.

[@stpd1957]

Yes, he ran rings around the politicians

[@deecee9548]

This pisses me off no end. First, MPs now finally get the balls to call out this travesty?! Where the eff were they in the 20-odd years this has been happening? Second, we are hearing the same b*$!t from those who are being 'held to account'. We will look into it, regret, address it... blah blah bah Third, how much is the compensation *legitimately* due to postmasters and postmistresses costing the taxpayer when this outrage should never have happened in the first place Fourth, how much is this useless enquiry also costing taxpayers when, again, MPs should have been protecting their constituents interests in the first place.

[@CyberSales007]

Hindsight is not a given. Politicians at the time are also liable. Not just Post Office and Fujitsu

[@FenderTele]

A" number" of overturned convictions that can be measured in double digits is sickening . Hundreds are waiting to have theirs overturned. Others have taken them to their graves as "sound convictions".

[@itimbo61]

Slippery and evasive and not fit for purpose. When are those responsible going to be prosecuted?

[@barryosullivan1894]

All post office management are Complicit . People need to go to prison over this. But unfortunately no justice exists in society . For these kind of people. Just smoke and mirrors with all these select Committees. not one individual will ever see the inside of a prison cell.

[@benjaminfisher8716]

Make sure the people responsible face a criminal investigation.

[@user-gz7qk7xf3j]

I don't understand why the hearing was not paused and him given the questions that required answering and told him to go away and return with the answers on Monday. And tell him that next time he should be properly briefed.

[@eljay5746]

He indicated even though there are personnel still employed by the PO who contributed to the false allegations against the SPMs he will not take any punitive action against them. Great answer from a CEO that could be used in industrial tribunals where a boss has found out to have committed a crime against his employees.

[@user-lt3hl6em3y]

Why does there seem to be laws for the majority of British subjects and different laws for the powers that be? The people who received money they have taken from Post Office staff must all now face prosecution .

[@user-su3hg1br5g]

Why haven’t they been arrested for lying and they should be paying compensation

[@steviesteve750]

It's a shame Darren Jones wasn't chairing this interview.

[@kateedmonds9900]

Or @rhonddabryant

[@michaelbruce5415]

Select committees are one of the areas where parliament works best. Far less 'Yah Boo' politicking, and far more, cross party experts at work to scrutinize and hold people to account.

[@lehanedermot]

Those at the top get a tribunal, lesser beings go to court.

[@rickwalker2]

"Speed up as much as we can and as quickly as we can the compensation that's being paid". Said no business leader in private, ever.

[@adelejones3746]

MP " I've asked three or four questions and not had an answer to one" now you know how we all feel when someone asks you a question.

[@grahamlong6870]

I would not trust this guy and his ilk to successfully, and accurately, run a tap!

[@gnhonho]

They do look sleazy

[@billgreen576]

Well that will be those who have gone off to run various Water companies.

[@user-tu3yd2cr6v]

What I don’t understand is that when all this money went ‘missing’ there must have been visibility that in the closing balances (which I suggest should have been done daily) there was a significant excess balance in these accounts. Someone must have hidden this. This is inexcusable

[@gnhonho]

It likely ended in some fat cats annual bonuses.

[@johnjephcote7636]

I understand that after a few years this seemingly unexplained rise in profits was just absorbed into PO funds.

[@P3nguin12]

Indeed, but it's unfortunately not uncommon for reconciliations to either not be complete or for analysis to not occur on balance sheets to a useful extent. I'm guessing that's what happened here. Poor controls.

[@P3nguin12]

Indeed, but it's unfortunately not uncommon for reconciliations to either not be complete or for analysis to not occur on balance sheets to a useful extent. I'm guessing that's what happened here. Poor controls.

[@P3nguin12]

Indeed, but it's unfortunately not uncommon for reconciliations to either not be complete or for analysis to not occur on balance sheets to a useful extent. I'm guessing that's what happened here. Poor controls.

[@user-sz6nb1vk6q]

I do hope that many individuals from the PO management & investigation teams are prosecuted over their deliberate actions in this whole affair!! I bet the shredders have been working overtime these last few weeks!!

[@yvonnebeadle-smith5212]

😂😂

[@saga5924]

What a sham. The present CEO who has been in office for 4 years has clearly shown his damn care attitude with his answers. There is no remorse nor any focus to come out with specifics and to hold those responsible for cover up with accountability and to take punitive measures against those responsible. The present CEO is continuing on path of cover up with vague evasive and all is good now posture and answers . Both the Post Office and NHS have the same corrupt and incompetent leadership / management problems. None of these CEOs or Directors are even a bit interested in dissecting and understanding issues so as to resolve the problems and weakness. Instead all these so called leaders of management are interested is to cover up , have a good time generally and enjoy their high salary (which they do not deserve) , perks and unjustified bonuses. They all need to be sacked and jailed .

[@johnjephcote7636]

I heard a long documentary about this on Radio4 about 2015. Why was nobody in the PO taking notice or Parliament taking notice? If I heard it and was appalled ( and it was a long programme) surely I was not the only listener to the wireless that day?

[@andysedgley]

The Great Post Office Scandal by the journalist who uncovered much of what we are hearing, Nick Wallis, is currently available on BBC Sounds. Well worth a listen (as long as you're up to date with your blood pressure medication).

[@sarabrittlegill9587]

I listened to that too. As soon as an ‘IT system” was mentioned I knew it wasn’t the sub post masters at fault. Computers are not magic and they are not clever. There are issues with every single one I have ever worked with during a long career in IT. Maybe not as serious as this but the situation with dodgy contracts, poor culture, a recognisable pattern of system failures, greed and zero accountability created a perfect storm.

[@NailahRoberts]

Remote access to the terminals!!!!!?? It's gets worse, some f***er could have remotely stole that money and sat back and allowed all those people to suffer.

[@peacelilly75]

Probably

[@DaliVid]

If they had the real threat of jail time and personally had to pay the money back... I'm sure the PO Ceo would suddenly find answers! ... 🙄🤔

[@brendamuirhead483]

I’m still waiting to hear how many members of each company’s management teams will be facing criminal charges….how angry will the general public be if no one faces legal charges I wonder….if any bookies are taking bets my money would be on very few….most will walk away with their bonuses and pensions intact. I don’t think I’ve seen such complete incompetence from so many highly recompensed individuals. Pathetic excuses too. They should lose everything and sell their own homes to fund compensation.

[@user-so7gv7po4s]

HOW the Post Office conjures up fraudulent eeason to prosecute those people. They should go to jail.

[@firespit1000]

Is it just me or is he related to Michael Gove? It is like watching and listening to Gove in a parallel quantum reality

[@paulrichards6894]

he would make a great politician....never answers a question

[@GriffithsFfestiniog]

I was watching this and thought where have I heard such bullshit before, he is exactly in the Gove school of non answer say a lot but never the truth.They all need to experience a week or more in a dark cell to bring them to their collective senses!

[@margaretnoakes9868]

Posh voice waffle just like Wee Govey

[@flamingosaregreat]

Omg 😂 yes !

[@Lisa-vy4ty]

Yes ! I’ve been thinking I’ve heard that voice before,come to think of it he does look a bit like him.

[@AlecSharratt101]

I wonder how much more information would flow from his lips if failure to answer any question resulted in 1 year one year in prison.

[@arsenal10141014]

Any small/med and in this case large IT project has testing during a build and before it goes live. Test scripts would include common transactions. So Fujitsu and the PO would have known pre launch it has these bugs. What happened? Fujitsu and the PO IT delivery director pushed it live knowing the errors thinking they can be fixed in the future. Prob under pressure from the PO exec and tied to individual bonuses to do so. This is what happened. Journalists need to look at this.

[@gnhonho]

I'm not British. How is it possible that a company (PO) had the ability to run prosecutions? Doesn't your judicial system have the concept of conflict of interest?

[@AspenDarkfire]

It's the ROYAL mail. They were given those powers by the authority of the crown, back when people were still wearing powdered wigs. Those powers were never revoked. The Tories (our version of Republicans) made it clear they want ALL public services, privatized. Leading to a situation where the executives of the post office were given massive bonuses for (deliberately) providing a substandard service (and now apparently a criminal service) ...part 1/2

[@AspenDarkfire]

2/2 They then used those archaic powers to prosecute innocent people of theft of money that never existed. Thereby falsely inflating their "profits" and gaining huge bonuses based on those lies

[@AM-sl9bq]

these types have learned through their life and education that a straight answer is a bad thing and more importantly that admitting fault is not to be a good thing

[@pippipster6767]

I’ve asked 3 or 4 questions and I haven’t had one answer yet … welcome to how the public feel WHENEVER a politician is asked ANYTHING 😂

[@davidsmith8728]

Rather ironic at 1.51 ..... Here is an MP who says he has asked three questions and hasn't had an answer to any of them. I wonder when he last answered a question with a straight answer. We see this daily on the TV news and also on PMQ's every Wednesday when parliament is sitting.

[@vernonrabbetts]

His job is to ask questions on this committee, and that's wrong? Also , during PMQ's his job is to ask questions, thats how PMQ's work. The MP's ask questions of the PM. What other parts of your own country's system of government are you so clearly clueless about? Or is your whataboutism purely a transactional benefit for your comment?

[@davidsmith8728]

MP's never answer questions with a straight answer. They divert, they prevaricate - anything not to answer the question.@@vernonrabbetts

[@franc9111]

@@vernonrabbetts What about the answers that weren't forthcoming ? That's the point.