Former Submit Workplace managing director Alan Cook dinner says he assumed the police and DPP had been concerned in prosecutions
Alan Cook dinner stated he had not beforehand encountered an organisation that might provoke prosecutions itself, and he describes it as “one in all my regrets” that he didn’t “choose up on that earlier”.
He instructed the Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry:
I had assumed that the police/DPP had been concerned. I shouldn’t have presumed, however I did presume, sadly. After which “it had gone to court docket” was the expression they used. I had not encountered the notion of an organisation that might make that call by itself. And I suppose I had an excessive amount of assumed information. And if you see the phrases that had been written, I can see why that view nonetheless perpetuated in my thoughts, as a result of it didn’t overtly say “We have now taken the choice to prosecute.”
Chair Wyn Williams interjects, and says:
As I perceive it, it follows from what you’re saying that if you turned the managing director, nobody throughout the firm Submit Workplace Ltd thought it essential to inform you “And by the best way, we prosecute individuals, within the sense that we don’t simply examine them, however we provoke and conduct the prosecution.”
Alan Cook dinner says that’s appropriate.
He’s proven some minutes about court docket circumstances from a gathering he didn’t attend however would most definitely have learn on the time. The phrasing nonetheless didn’t, he says, strike him as that means that Submit Workplace Ltd was itself finishing up the prosecutions.
“I’m not blaming others,” he stated “It’s my misunderstanding, however I had simply not encountered that kind of scenario.”
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Up to date at 05.07 EDT
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Alan Cook dinner, who was the managing director of Submit Workplace, has simply instructed the Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry that he was not conscious till late in his tenure that the Submit Workplace was the prosecuting authority in lots of of those circumstances.
I knew there have been court docket circumstances. However I didn’t realise that Submit Workplace, in about two-thirds of the circumstances, had initiated the prosecution versus, you understand, the DPP or the police or no matter.
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On the Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry, Alan Cook dinner has stated that he was circuitously liable for the group features together with HR and authorized at Submit Workplace that had been finished by the over-arching Royal Mail group.
“The those that had been doing that work didn’t work for me,” he stated, then clarified “I’m not saying I’m not liable for the problems.”
He stated the actual fact these features belonged elsewhere made him “a bit of reluctant after I was being supplied the job.”
As a reminder, Cook dinner was managing director of the Submit Workplace from 2006 to 2010. He goes on to elucidate:
Reliance was positioned on Royal Mail Holdings governance in addition to Submit Workplace Ltd governance. For instance, producing the annual outcomes and having the accounts audited was a course of that will have been run by way of an audit committee, and that audit committee was on the Royal Mail Holdings stage. I absolutely settle for I used to be on the board of Royal Mail, however I’m simply saying that from a Submit Workplace Ltd board’s perspective, they weren’t the accountable occasion that.
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As Labour have made committing to nuclear weapons their theme for the day, I did simply lookup polling on assist for the UK being a nuclear energy.
When YouGov final surveyed adults on the difficulty in January, nationally 53% of individuals strongly supported or considerably supported the UK retaining a nuclear deterrent, whereas 31% strongly or considerably opposed it.
Price noting that this isn’t the case in Scotland, the place the nationwide and regional breakdown of the information reveals that in Scotland 41% of adults are in opposition to the UK having nuclear weapons, and 35% are for.
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The Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry has began for the day at Aldwych Home in London. Alan Cook dinner, the previous managing director of Submit Workplace, is up first. Junior counsel to the inquiry Sam Stevens is asking the questions. You’ll be able to watch it right here.
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Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has additionally reacted to the most recent GDP figures. She stated:
After 14 years of Conservative financial failure, Britain is worse off with low progress and excessive taxes. The Conservatives can’t repair the financial system as a result of they’re the rationale it’s damaged.
Progress in January was revised up from 0.2% to 0.3%, and in February the determine was 0.1%. That follows two quarters of slight contraction that means that, successfully, no matter whether or not GDP is barely up or barely down, the financial system has been stagnating for months.
As my colleague Graeme Wearden notes, year-on-year, GDP fell 0.2% in February in contrast with the identical month final 12 months.
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Labour: ‘our dedication to the nuclear deterrent is complete’
Labour’s shadow armed forces minister, Luke Pollard, has been on the media spherical this morning, speaking about Labour’s dedication to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence “when circumstances enable”.
He stated “our dedication to the nuclear deterrent is complete and our assist for the armed forces is on the document.”
He went on to elucidate:
What we want to ensure is that we’re reflecting the altering worldwide circumstances, rising threats to not solely the UK however our allies as properly.
And that’s why we’ve set out our ambition to get to 2.5% of GDP on defence spending, but additionally that defence spending must be targeted totally on UK corporations creating and supporting jobs throughout the UK, reasonably than shopping for tools on the worldwide markets from worldwide companions the place the roles clearly go overseas.
The intention to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence exceeds the two% spending goal for Nato allies, and matches what the present authorities has stated it intends to do.
Requested about potential dissent throughout the occasion on Sky Information to elevated defence spending and an endorsement of constant the UK’s nuclear capabilities, Pollard stated:
There may be sturdy assist for the renewal of our nuclear deterrent. I believe if you’re trying on the display screen and see information bulletins, and also you’re seeing Russian aggression in opposition to Ukraine, the place we’re seeing each day cyber-attacks in opposition to the UK, the place we’re seeing our allies being threatened internationally, that case for a strong and robust defence coverage is about out very clearly in entrance of us.
Pollard additionally stated it was troublesome at the moment to set out plans in additional element. He stated “I don’t get to see the data, the safety briefings, the intelligence, that will be required for us to set out clearly which capabilities must be invested.”
Keir Starmer can be in Barrow right now, the place the UK’s nuclear submarines are constructed. He stated in an interview forward of the journey:
The modified Labour occasion I lead is aware of that our nation’s defence should at all times come first. Labour’s dedication to our nuclear deterrent is complete.
Within the face of rising world threats and rising Russian aggression, the UK’s nuclear deterrent is the bedrock of Labour’s plan to maintain Britain secure. It can guarantee very important safety for the UK and our Nato allies within the years forward, in addition to supporting 1000’s of excessive paying jobs throughout the UK.
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Hunt: GDP rise of 0.1% in February is ‘welcome signal financial system is popping nook’
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has responded to these newest GDP figures by saying:
These figures are a welcome signal that the financial system is popping a nook, and we are able to construct on this progress if we persist with our plan.
Final week our cuts to nationwide insurance coverage for 29 million working individuals got here into impact throughout Britain, as a part of our plan to reward work and develop the financial system.
Others have been extra lukewarm in regards to the information. A spokesperson for the British Chambers of Commerce stated “Right this moment’s knowledge confirms as soon as once more that the UK financial system is caught on a low-growth treadmill.”
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UK GDP rose by 0.1% in February new knowledge reveals
![Richard Partington](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/12/27/Richard_Partington,_R.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=bb38e72cdfabfe7563b4036c49593334)
Richard Partington
Richard Partington is the Guardian’s economics correspondent
Britain’s financial system has taken a step nearer to exiting recession after official figures confirmed progress continued in February regardless of a washout month for building and retail after one of many wettest begins to a 12 months on document.
The Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) stated gross home product (GDP) rose by 0.1% in February, matching Metropolis economists’ forecasts and lengthening a restoration after progress in January was revised up from 0.2% to 0.3%.
Liz McKeown, an ONS director of economics statistics, stated: “The financial system grew barely in February with widespread progress throughout manufacturing, notably within the automobile sector. Companies additionally grew a bit of with public transport and haulage, and telecommunications having sturdy months.
“Partially offsetting this there have been notable falls throughout building because the moist climate hampered many constructing tasks.”
The UK met the technical definition of recession after contracting within the third and fourth quarters of final 12 months. An finish to the stoop would require a continued growth in March to satisfy a quarterly return to progress.
You’ll be able to observe response to that information stay with my colleague Graeme Wearden: UK GDP grows in February, suggesting financial system is escaping recession – enterprise stay
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Former Submit Workplace bosses Alan Cook dinner and Adam Crozier to face Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry
The Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry has had a collection of excessive profile witnesses thus far this week. On Tuesday Alan Bates, the lead campaigner within the scandal accused ministers of being vindictive over his personal compensation declare as he disclosed a listing of makes an attempt to sabotage his two-decade struggle.
On Wednesday Lord Arbuthnot set out how makes an attempt by MPs to get an investigation going within the 2010s had been thwarted by the Submit Workplace. The previous Conservative MP stated James stated considerations about reliability of defective Horizon pc system had been “dismissed”, and accused the corporate of operating a “behind-the-scenes deception course of”.
Sir Anthony Hooper, the previous senior choose who chaired the mediation panel within the early 2010s to attempt to resolve claims between the justice for subpostmasters marketing campaign and the Submit Workplace additionally appeared on Wednesday, describing it as “the best scandal that I’ve ever seen”.
Yesterday the inquiry heard a variety of company oversight failures, and former Submit Workplace government David Smith apologised for sending an electronic mail saying the conviction of a pregnant department owner-operator who was subsequently jailed after which exonerated was “sensible information”.
Former Submit Workplace chair Sir Michael Hodgkinson additionally supplied an apology yesterday, however his phrases got here after a passage wherein Sam Stein KC skewered him for his lack of curiosity in the best way wherein the corporate he chaired was prosecuting individuals. Requested “What did you do to research that the Submit Workplace was correctly prosecuting its personal members?”, Hodgkinson might solely reply “I didn’t do something.”
And so to right now. Alan Cook dinner, the previous managing director of Submit Workplace who went on to chair the insurer Liverpool Victoria, will seem.
After that we’ll see the previous chief government of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier. Crozier was additionally as soon as in command of ITV, whose drama did a lot to attract consideration to the scandal earlier this 12 months, however which notably omitted any reference to its former chief. Crozier, who headed Royal Mail when it owned the Submit Workplace between 2003 and 2010, will present detailed testimony about his actions for the primary time.
Yesterday, retired choose Wyn Williams who’s chairing the inquiry, requested to maneuver the beginning time ahead from 10am to 9.30am, as there’s a lot to get by way of. The hearings are streamed on video, and I’ll convey you the important thing traces because the emerge.
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Welcome and opening abstract …
Good morning. Rishi Sunak is anticipated to be out campaigning, international secretary David Cameron is in Brussels, GDP figures present continued financial stagnation, and Adam Crozier can be on the Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry. Extra of all that in a second, first, listed below are your headlines …
The UK took one other step on path to exit recession, however GDP rise is simply 0.1%
Tory candidate for London mayor Susan Corridor has a Trumpian perspective to local weather, says Sadiq Khan
Keir Starmer is anticipated to vow to make the UK’s nuclear deterrent the “bedrock” of his safety plan to maintain Britain secure right now
The federal government wants a TikTok technique to assist fight misinformation directed at younger individuals, MPs have stated
There isn’t any enterprise scheduled in any of the nation’s legislatures right now, nonetheless that doesn’t imply the diary is empty. Alan Cook dinner and Adam Crozier are witnesses on the Submit Workplace Horizon IT inquiry, and each had been senior leaders on the Submit Workplace and Royal Mail in the course of the time the scandal was unfolding. There may be more likely to be particularly eager curiosity within the look by Crozier, former ITV CEO, and an individual who now acts as chairman of each Whitbread and BT Group. That’s anticipated to start out at 9.30am.
It’s Martin Belam right here with you right now as soon as extra. I do attempt to learn all of your feedback, and dip into them the place I believe I could be useful, however if you wish to get my consideration the easiest way is to electronic mail me – martin.belam@theguardian.com – particularly in case you have noticed errors/typos/omissions.
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