Post Office “did have a problem with ethnicity and gender” with more “jobs for the boys” and few for women or ethnic minority executives, Post Office former chairman Henry Staunton told the public inquiry on Tuesday (1).
Staunton, who was sacked by the former business secretary Kemi Badenoch in January this year, told the public inquiry that Post Office is failing to get on top of varying problems, including lack of oversight of the costs of bringing in a new IT system, continued vilification of wrongly persecuted postmasters, and lack of desire to pay proper compensation for their incorrect prosecutions.
He told the inquiry that a whistleblower contacted him in June 2023 about the rollout of a new IT platform called NBIT, which was due to replace the disgraced Horizon system that introduced errors into postmasters’ accounts.
Among other claims like ballooning the cost of cost of NBIT from over £300m to over £800m, the whistleblower went on to claim that “the culture in the business is disgusting and this starts at the top with Nick (the chief executive) and the general executives. The email also claimed “sexism is rife”.
On being questioned over these claims made by the whistleblower, Staunton stated, "We had a huge cultural problem..you heard odd comments about jobs for the boys. I’d heard them and I understood why those comments were made.”
He added that the Post Office did “have a problem with ethnicity and gender”, adding, “The biggest cultural issue relates to how postmasters are viewed in this organisation”.
Staunton went to say that he had fought on behalf of the postmasters within the organisation and had been “horrified” when the Post Office continued to say that the majority of postmasters were “guilty as charged”.
He told the inquiry he had tried to make sure wrongly convicted postmasters were rightfully compensated for this ordeal but he had faced opposition from government civil servants.
Staunton also told the inquiry that people within the Post Office “didn’t fully accept” the rulings made by Justice Fraser, which found that the Horizon IT system had caused errors that led to wrongful prosecutions of postmasters.
Staunton, who joined the Post Office at the end of 2022, said, “They didn’t fully accept it [that] was my impression. That somehow the case hadn’t been put well. There wasn’t a feeling that this [the prosecutions of postmasters] was absolutely wrong.”
Staunton said that before the replacement for Horizon is rolled out, the Post Office must deal with staff involved in the wrongful prosecution of more than 700 sub-postmasters.
“This is not something that relates to the past – it is something that relates to the future. Before we implement [the new] Horizon we will be doing a path-clearing exercise. There are millions of pounds in dispute between postmasters and what is on their records and what is in the Post Office account,” he told the inquiry into the scandal.
Talking about the employees deemed high-risk given their alleged involvement in the Horizon scandal, a group of Post Office investigators who it is often claimed that they would never face disciplinary action over the Horizon IT scandal, Staunton stated that continued "involvement of the untouchables" will be a big problem.
Staunton said, “There are these people called the ‘untouchables’ in the investigations team, or reds or whatever, involved with all the issues in the past of finding postmasters guilty
“I am very afraid if [sub-postmasters] are investigated [after the new IT system is implemented] by the so-called untouchables we could have another debacle – not to the same extent – but we could have hundreds of sub-postmasters having to pay out monies. This is a big issue going forward, the involvement of the untouchables. It is not some sort of academic exercise. It is really fundamental to what we do next time.”
Staunton claimed in the inquiry that Read, who is expected to appear before the inquiry for three days next week, had used the phrase “untouchables” with him in a private conversation and in a meeting with all of the Post Office’s non-executive directors.
Staunton described the Post Office’s investigations department as “powerful” and “quite brutal” in the way they dealt with post office operators. He also said that he was shocked at the attitude of the remediation process designed to evaluate and compensate those prosecuted.
Staunton was sacked as Post Office chairman in January by Badenoch over accusations of using derogatory language and having a racist attitude.
In a bid to dodge a US lawsuit, Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprungli has scuppered its own claims about the excellence of its products - a cornerstone of its marketing strategy.
Lindt has unsuccessfully tried to end a class action lawsuit in the United States, launched in February 2023 following an article by a US consumer association questioning the presence of heavy metals in dark chocolate bars from several manufacturers, including two bars produced by Lindt.
"In its defence strategy, the company has dismantled its own promises of quality," claimed the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, raking over a September US court decision.
The chocolatier's lawyers maintained that the words "excellence" and "expertly crafted with the finest ingredients", printed on its bars, were unactionable "puffery", according to a decision by the Eastern District of New York district court.
The court, which dismissed Lindt's motion, defined product puffery as "exaggerated advertising, blustering, and boasting upon which no reasonable buyer would rely".
The Swiss newspaper Le Temps said Lindt was "walking a tightrope" with this "daring defence".
Lindt's high profit margins are due to "the fact that consumers are willing to pay more for its industrial chocolates because of their quality image", the daily noted.
The court decision said the plaintiffs brought the class action against Lindt alleging that the firm "deceptively marketed their dark chocolate bars as 'expertly crafted with the finest ingredients' and 'safe, as well as delightful', when the bars in fact contained significant amounts of lead".
Lindt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Consumers in the US states of Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Nevada and New York had taken legal action on the back of a 2022 article by the US consumer organisation Consumer Reports, concerning the levels of lead and cadmium in dark chocolate bars.
The organisation tested 28 bars sold in the US. One of the Lindt bars was among eight found to have a high level of cadmium, while another was among 10 with a high level of lead, though neither had the highest levels.
Two of its bars, marketed under the US brand Ghirardelli, were among the five classified as "safer choices".
While bars from other manufacturers had higher concentrations of heavy metals - including from organic brands - consumers insisted in the class action lawsuit that they had paid premium prices for Lindt because they believed they were "purchasing quality and safe dark chocolate".
Switzerland is very attached to the quality of its goods, its calling card to sell products that are often more expensive given the high production costs in the wealthy Alpine country.
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Britain's main opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, arrives to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry in central London on November 11, 2024. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
The government let bureaucracy get in the way of redress for wronged sub postmasters, former business secretary Kemi Badenoch today (11) told the inquiry into the Post Office scandal.
The Tory leader said that during her time as business secretary, she and former postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake "wanted to get the money out there" but were constantly given reasons why they could not by officials.
During an appearance before the Horizon IT inquiry, Badenoch said, "We had briefings on the issue with officials, and it was quite clear to me that we were allowing bureaucracy to get in the way of redress too much of the time.
"Kevin (Hollinrake) and I wanted to get the money out there, and we were always given a reason why we couldn’t.
"I feel that there is often too much bureaucracy in the way of getting things done, because people are worried about the process. They are worried about: if things go wrong, they’ll be on the hook for that. So they carry out lots of checks and balances well beyond what I think is required in order to deliver the right outcome."
Questioned by counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC on who allowed bureaucracy to get in the way of redress, Badenoch replied: "Well, the government machine.
"I think I remember asking a question like- ‘Why can’t we just give them the money?"’
Badenoch, who was Business Secretary for 17 months, also told the inquiry that she was determined to speed up the whole process of compensation.
“What I was seeing, the way the Department [of Business and Trade] and the Post Office was going on we’d never get to the end of it. I had my own objective of making sure we did right by the sub-postmasters.”
Badenoch added that the Post Office would have “disappeared in its current form long ago” if it was a private organisation, adding that it is a “20th-century organisation that is struggling to evolve in a 21st-century world.”
Badenoch also stated that it was “extremely disappointing” that it took an ITV drama about the Post Office scandal to get the government to accelerate compensation for wrongly convicted postmasters.
“I was not expecting the documentary [Mr Bates vs the Post Office] in January, which helped speed things along. It suddenly turned it from a value-for-money question to a public perception question.”
The inquiry saw an exchange of letters between Badenoch and the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in August 2023 requesting the extension of interim payments for the Group Litigation Order (GLO) compensation. But he initially rejected the idea.
“If you look at it in the context of what’s happening in government," she told the inquiry. "There are a thousand things that are being asked, money requested for. After a while, it just becomes another line in a ledger."
A string of robberies have hit more than half a dozen convenience stores in Derbyshire in the past weeks in which a significant amounts of cash was stolen from stores including a Best One and several Co-ops.
According to latest reports, seven stores in Derbyshire were struck by armed robbers in the last six weeks. Police have shared footage of one of such robbery in which a shopkeeper can be seen fighting off a knife-wielding robber.
The force said the suspect had not physically harmed anyone during any of the robberies - which police are treating as being linked - but said significant amounts of cash had been stolen. Independent charity Crimestoppers is now offering a reward of up to £1,000 for information.
The force said the first three robberies happened in Derby between 18:00 and 21:32 on Oct 5 with the suspect described as wearing a bright orange top. Another shop was targeted in Derby the next day followed by a fifth on Oct 14 in Ilkeston. Two more shops were robbed in Chaddesden and Oakwood. The suspect in the later incidents was described as wearing dark or black joggers or tracksuit bottoms, a navy hoodie and a face covering.
Chief Inspector Chris Thornhill said: “These offences have understandably caused concern and a team of detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry in an effort to bring the man responsible to justice.
“I know there are people in the community who know who this man is – and they know that the right thing to do is to come forward. We have thankfully seen nobody physically hurt in the incidents so far, but any person who is willing to arm themselves with a knife is putting our community at serious risk.
“We are increasing both our uniformed and plain clothes patrols in the city – as well as armed response officers including potential targets as part of their patrol strategies. I would urge anyone who has any information, no matter how small it may seem, to come forward as soon as possible.”
A good majority (69 per cent) of those working in retail have experienced verbal abuse while most of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting, shows a recent report by retail trade union Usdaw.
According to the interim results based on over 4,000 retail staff responses show that in the last twelve months, 69 per cent have experienced verbal abuse while 45 per cent were threatened by a customer. 17 per cent were assaulted while 70 per cent of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting and two-thirds of those were linked to addiction.
The report comes as Usdaw launched its annual Respect for Shop workers Week that runs from Nov 11-17, with its members raising awareness of the union’s year-round Freedom From Fear Campaign and talking to the public to promote a message of "respect for shop workers".
Commenting on the report findings, Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary stated that it has become increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order amid a retail crime epidemic.
“Our survey demonstrates that theft from shops is not a victimless crime, with incidents regularly being a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shop workers. Having to deal with repeated and persistent theft and even looting can cause issues beyond the incident itself like anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers. Our members are reporting that they are often faced with hardened career criminals in their stores and much of the abuse they suffer is from those who are stealing to sell goods on, often to fund an addiction.
“After 14 years of successive Tory governments not delivering the change we need on retail crime, we are pleased that the new Labour Government announced a Crime and Policing Bill in the King’s Speech. This new legislation will deliver a much-needed protection of shop workers’ law; end the indefensible £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, which has effectively become an open invitation to retail criminals; along with town centre banning orders for repeat offenders.
"The Chancellor announced in the Budget funding to tackle the organised criminals responsible for the increase in shoplifting and the Government has promised more uniformed officer patrols in shopping areas. It is our hope that these new measures will help give shop workers the respect they deserve.
“This week, Usdaw activists will be campaigning in their workplaces and communities calling on the shopping public to ‘respect shop workers’ and ‘keep your cool’, particularly in the run-up to Christmas when the number of incidents increases as shops get busy and customers become frustrated. This is a hugely important issue for our members and they are saying loud and clear that enough is enough.”
Higher prices for staples such as vegetable oils, wheat, cheese and sugar have pushed global costs to their highest level in 18 months, signalling more pain ahead for shoppers.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index rose to 127.4 in October — the highest level since April 2023. The figure, published on Friday (8), was up 5.5 per cent from October last year. Prices for food commodities have risen steadily since the start of the year.
Although food costs remain well below levels reached in March 2022, consumers are already having to pay more for groceries as increases are passed on from food manufacturers to shoppers. Food price pressures across the G7 major advanced economies ticked up for the first time in two years in September, complicating rate-setters’ attempts to cut rates to support growth and jobs.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index spiked by 7.3 percent in October, hitting a two-year high as a result of rising quotations for palm, soy, sunflower and rapeseed oil, driven mainly by concerns about production.
The FAO Cereal Price Index increased by 0.9 percent in October, led by rising wheat and maize export prices. Global wheat prices were affected by unfavorable weather conditions in major northern hemisphere exporters as well as the re-introduction of an unofficial price floor in the Russian Federation and rising tensions in the Black Sea region.
The FAO Sugar Price Index increased by 2.6 percent amid persisting concerns over the 2024/25 production outlook in Brazil following extended dry weather conditions. Rising international crude oil prices also contributed to the increase in sugar quotations by shifting more sugarcane toward ethanol production, while the weakening of the Brazilian real against the United States dollar limited the increase.
The FAO Dairy Price Index rose by 1.9 percent in October, averaging 21.4 percent above its level the same time last year. The increase was primarily driven by higher international cheese and butter prices, while quotations for milk powders declined.
Bucking the general upward trend, the FAO Meat Price Index dropped by 0.3 percent from September, mainly due to lower pig meat prices resulting from increased slaughter rates in Western Europe amid weak domestic and international demand. World poultry prices fell slightly in October, while those of ovine meat remained stable. By contrast, bovine meat prices increased moderately, underpinned by stronger international purchases.