Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Watch: Post Office Horizon inquiry continues as former chair Michael Hodgkinson gives evidence

Oliver Browning
Thursday 11 April 2024 15:01 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Watch as Sir Michael Hodgkinson - former chair of Post Office Ltd and former senior non-executive director of Royal Mail Holdings plc - gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry on Thursday 11 April.

He will be speaking after the inquiry was shown yesterday letters from former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells defending the Horizon system.

Ms Vennells suggested “temptation” for subpostmasters to borrow money from tills was a problem and not the Horizon system.

The probe into the scandal was told how she made a “false statement” in a letter to former Conservative MP Oliver Letwin by saying that courts found in favour of the Post Office “in every instance” when prosecuting subpostmasters for theft or false accounting.

The inquiry was shown minutes of a meeting between Ms Vennells, former chair Alice Perkins and MPs such as Lord Arbuthnot - who testified yesterday - in which she claimed a small number of subpostmasters had been “borrowing” money from the tills.

Lord Arbuthnot also said he was not satisfied with the “brush-off” response he received from Ms Vennells after he raised concerns over subpostmaster complaints about the Horizon system.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in