the post office capped his horizon it scandal. g decisions will be made as a potential criminal offences linked to the post office horizon scandal until after a public inquiry has published its final report. 100 police officers from across the uk are now working on the investigation, which is focusing on potential crimes of perjury and perverting the course ofjustice, linked to the wrongful prosecution is of sub—postmaster is and the wider presentation of the horizon it system is robust. police have described the inquiry is unprecedented in size, with potentially more than 3000 victims. evidence are currently including more than 1.5 million documents which have to be reviewed. commander stephen clayman, head of the central specialist crime team at the metropolitan police service, he outlined the scale of the operation. the investigation itself is, in terms of documentary evidence, is significant, if you consider what's happened in the public inquiry, in terms of the material at the moment, we've got over 1.5 million documents that

police say dozens of people are being investigated over the post office horizon it scandal. include employees of the post office and fujitsu, as well as some members of the legal profession, but detectives say no trials are expected to get under way until 2027. a government source has told the bbc that thousands of civil service jobs are to be cut as the government finds "efficiency savings". the source said there was no central target, but some reports suggest the figure could be above 10,000. meta — the company which operates social media apps including facebook, whatsapp and instagram — has reported a technical issue which it says has affected their use. issues have been reported around the world. meta hasn't outlined the cause of the problem, but said it is working as quickly as possible to fix it. we start the programme in syria, where shops are reopening and people are returning to work in the capital damascus three days after the fall of the assad regime. rebel forces say they've taken control of the oil—rich eastern city of deir ez—zur. a senior commander of the isla

police investigating possible crimes linked to the post office horizon it scandal are looking at "dozensfter the faulty horizon software showed money missing from their branch accounts. police are looking into the role of post office and fujitsu employees but say any charges won't be laid until after the final report of a separate public inquiry is published. farming leaders drove tractors through westminster on wednesday, urging ministers to consult with them before making changes to agricultural inheritance tax. some farms had previously been exempt, but the new budget imposes a 20% inheritance tax on some assets, half the normal rate. sir keir starmer insists the "vast majority" of farmers won't be affected. puberty blockers for young trans people have been indefinitely banned in the uk. speaking in the commons earlier wes streeting, the health and social care secretary, said a review by medical experts had found the drugs presented an unacceptable safety risk. puberty blocking drugs are used to delay or prevent puberty by suppressing the release of sex hormones. you're live with bbc

police investigating possible crimes linked to the post office horizon it scandal are looking at dozense faulty horizon software showed money missing from their branch accounts. police are looking into the role of post office and fujitsu employees. farming leaders drove tractors through westminster on wednesday, urging ministers to consult with them before making changes to agricultural inheritance tax. some farms had previously been exempt, but the new budget imposes a 20% inheritance tax on some assets, half the normal rate. sir keir starmer insists the vast majority of farmers won't be affected. you're live with bbc news. rather than a formal vote, applause was used to measure support. to be the joint hosts of the men's 2030 world cup. human rights agencies warn that the decision risks the exploitation of migrant workers who will build the infrastructure for the tournament. they also warn that some fans could be discriminated against. spain, portugal and morocco were also confirmed by fifa to be the joint hosts of the men's 2030 world cup. 0ur sports editor has more. saudi arabia has

the post office horizon scandal is described as the uk's most widespread miscarriage ofjustice.re prosecuted for stealing. many went to prison. many were financially ruined. to get to the truth, the public inquiry into the scandal heard from key participants. former post office boss paula vennells, starting her three days of evidence... reporter: are you a liar, miss vennells? i ..distancing herself from any wrongdoing? i was too trusting. i'm disappointed where information wasn't shared. but the barristers for the subpostmasters didn't hold back. looking under that rock, - you're going to find a problem, it's going to devastate i the post office — ruin it. and you couldn't let that happen, couldl you, miss vennells? i loved the post office. i gave it, i... april saw horses running loose through central london. the household cavalry animals were spooked by the sound of construction work. when i saw all these horses galloping along, it's a very. surreal thing to see. in music, it was a year of disruption and upheaval, starting at the brit awards, where raye won a record—breaking

in the uk — and some news about the post office horizon it scandal.s will be made over potential criminal offences linked to the scandal, until after a public inquiry has published its final report. one hundred police officers from across the uk are now working on the investigation, which is focusing on potential crimes of perjury and perverting the court ofjustice, linked to the wrongful prosecutions of sub—postmasters and the wider presentation of the horizon it system as robust. police have described the inquiry as "unprecedented" in size, with potentially more than 3,000 victims and evidence currently including more than one—and—a—half million documents which have to be reviewed. let's speak to former sub—postmistress, seema misra. so good to have you on the programme. if i may ask you to remind viewers at home exactly what happened to you during the scandal. in what happened to you during the scandal. :: :: ., , scandal. in 2005 me and my husband _ scandal. in 2005 me and my husband had _ scandal. in 2005 me and my husband had a _ scandal. in 200

police investigating crimes linked to the post office horizon it scandal are looking at "dozens" of potential of post office and fujitsu employees, but say any charges won�*t be laid until after the final report of a separate public inquiry is published. farmers have blocked roads around the westminister parliament, urging ministers to consult with them on changes to inheritance tax. farms had been exempt, but the budget imposed a 20% inheritance tax on some assets, half the normal rate. sir keir starmer, insists the "vast majority" of farmers won�*t be affected. new figures suggest the annual cost of renting a home in the uk is more than £3,000 higher than it was three years ago. and the property website, zoopla, is forecasting further increases next year. colletta smith is in rochdale. as you say, a rented property going on the market now is going to set you back an extra £270 a month more than it would have done three years ago in 2021. the silver lining for renters in these statistics today is that in lots of areas, particularly big towns and cities, we are starting to see those price inc

it's interesting there were very few interviews over the years with anyone from the post office about the horizont concerns as the story gained more and more coverage. is that a failure of news media? it's an absolute failure ofjournalism. i said that on the record. we consistently try to get an interview with paula vennells. if serious news editors had gone to the government and said why won't the chief executive of the post office give an interview to anyone, then things might have happened. that is one thing you can point atjournalism. why weren't big news organisations piling in there at the very highest level and saying it is unacceptable that this person, the leader of this organisation, who is paid by the taxpayer, is refusing to allow herself to be held to account. later that month it emerged that the dedicated news programmes, the seven and the nine on the bbc scotland channel, had been getting remarkably low ratings. one edition of the nine had 1700 viewers and an edition of the seven just 200. the former editor of new programmes at bbc scotland gave us his reaction. to spend large sums

post office. no, that's not right. it all began with a new computer system — problems from the start — and the fallout has been immense. it wasn't horizone hoping this inquiry will deliver the truth. emma simpson, bbc news. let's speak to former sub—postmistress — tracey merritt. what are your feelings on a day like today? what have you learned over the last two years? i’zfe today? what have you learned over the last two years?— the last two years? i've learned that they are — the last two years? i've learned that they are never _ the last two years? i've learned that they are never going - the last two years? i've learned that they are never going to - that they are never going to come out and actually admit what they have done. they are not going to be honest. the post office is still covering up things, still running away from their responsibilities. i think going forward that something has got to be radically changed to work with the post office. i feel sorry for the postmasters who got businesses now. i think this is ruining them. but they still need to own up this public amnesia is just ridiculous. we weren't given a chance to say

misra and three other former sub—postmaster is wrongly accused of taking money from the post office in the horizone 0bes for their campaigning work. we 0bes for their campaigning work. - applied more pressure to get the award sooner rather than later. in the world of entertainment, 0scar—nominated actor carey mulligan, coronation street and last tango in halifax star anne reid, and happy valley's sarah lancashire have all been made cbes for services to drama. keely hodgkinson! olympic gold medallist and bbc sports personality of the year keely hodgkinson says it's amazing to be made an mbe. most of those being honoured aren't in the public eye. neurosurgeon who performed landmark surgery on a woman while she played the violin is made an mbe. and don't are still said she is overwhelmed to be recognised for her efforts to raise awareness of brain injuries in sport. this year poss my oldest recipient is 103—year—old world war ii recipient is 103—year—old world war i! pilot colin bell, honoured with the british empire medalfor his charity work. gail is jason 0'shea's charity work. gail is jason 0'shea

the post office inquiry into the horizon it scandal finally draws to a close today 2.5 years after itdealt with a quarter of a million documents to try to get to the bottom of one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice in the uk. the de facto syrian leader, ahmed al—sharaa, has told a visiting british envoy that international sanctions against damascus must be lifted. he told ann snow that it was important to end restrictions so displaced syrians could return. britain is among a handful of countries to have sent delegations to the syrian capital since rebels ousted the assad regime just over a week ago. with me is said shehata from bbc arabic. good morning. tell us more about this, the western delegations that have been in damascus. delegations that have been in damascu— delegations that have been in damascus. �* a _ . , damascus. inaudible by the west to talk with the — damascus. inaudible by the west to talk with the current _ to talk with the current administration because even hts or hayat tahrir al—sham was described as a terrorist organisation in countries, but it is a reality. i

seema misra and three other former subpostmasters wrongly accused of taking money from the post office in the horizonndal have been made obes for their campaigning work. she hopes that the award will help them in their fight for the proper compensation they think they deserve. the fight is still on, so fingers crossed with the award and everything, it will put more pressure as well to get it sooner rather than later. in the world of entertainment, oscar—nominated actor carey mulligan, coronation street and last tango in halifax star anne reid and happy valley's sarah lancashire have all been made cbes for services to drama. keely hodgkinson! olympic gold medallist and bbc sports personality of the year keely hodgkinson says it's amazing to be made an mbe. not so loud. most of those being honoured aren't in the public eye. neurosurgeon professor keyoumars ashkan, who performed landmark surgery on a woman while she played the violin, is made an mbe. as is dawn astle, who said she was very overwhelmed to be recognised for her campaign to raise awareness of brain injuries in sport, after herfatherjeff di

post office inquiry. since 2022, evidence and testimonies have been given by sub—postmasters and postmistresses who were wrongly prosecuted due to the faulty horizonont of a prison warden. it began with the victims telling their stories of how the post office ruined their lives. wake up in the morning, i'm actually disappointed that i've woken up. once, the newspaper put, "postmistress guilty." you can imagine. we couldn't live, we i couldn't, we couldn't... we had no money, we were destitute. and day after day the sub—postmasters came to watch the inquiry too, especially when it was the turn of the investigators who pursued them to get a grilling. do you accept that you behaved unprofessionally? no. do you accept that it was part of the culture within the investigation team to intimidate and abuse subpostmasters? no, no. there was the odd apology. i'm sorry. i feel ashamed that i was part of this. ijust don't remember this at all. memory loss was also a running theme. am i supposed to have written all this? i might well have signed it. mr singh, are you going to tell the truth today? then there were revelations about the behaviour of lawyers, inc

the post office inquiry has been told a "malignant culture" destroyed the lives of the victims of the horizonay, edward henry kc — who represents a number of sub postmasters — said that "such heartlessness came from the top". the truth is that human beings engaged in a deliberate conspiracy, first to convict innocent people, either in the criminal courts or to destroy them in the civil courts, and then to cover it up. and by refusing to admit these wrongs, these despicable acts, the post office has shown that its words of apology are bogus and that it cannot be trusted. and that deplorable wrongdoing went to the top. our correspondent luxmy gopal explained more about what we've been hearing as the two—year inquiry comes to a close. people have been affected by this for years now. just to give you an indication, it's been more than two years since this inquiry began. it began in february 2022, and i've been speaking to some of the people who have been affected by this, some names that will be familiar to you. and two of them were mentioned by edward henry kc a little earlier. one of them, lee

final day of the post office inquiry which has been going on since 2022, there have been hundreds of testimonies by sub—postmaster mistresses wrongly prosecuted due to the faulty horizon fine proceedings going on. one witnesses _ proceedings going on. one witnesses have _ proceedings going on. one witnesses have given - proceedings going on. que: witnesses have given recent evidence of matters relevant to paula vennells without support in contemporaneous documents, they should be approached cautiously. it is inevitable, having regard to the very human desire for self—preservation, that witnesses will now seek to distance themselves from ms vennells. just two examples, if i may. first, jo swinson said in her oral evidence that ms vennells knew about the clerk advice. when i asked her questions about this, ms swinson conceded the assertion is based on a single e—mail she had not seen at the time. that e—mail does not withstand the weight which ms swinson seeks to load upon it. she did not have any personal knowledge on theissue have any personal knowledge on the issue but clearly and in retrospect wanted to assume the worst of ms vennells and sought to point the finger a

horizon standers —— scandal, but there were so many others involved at different levels over the years and we have seen for subpostmasters who were wrongly accused of stealing money from the post officehead and jo hamilton and also the journalists from computer weekly who did the original first story not knowing where it would go but was the first journalist to take a big interest in this also receiving an 0be. interest in this also receiving an obe. ~ ., ., ., , an obe. we mention the famous --eole an obe. we mention the famous people but— an obe. we mention the famous people but a _ an obe. we mention the famous people but a lot _ an obe. we mention the famous people but a lot of _ an obe. we mention the famous people but a lot of people - an obe. we mention the famous people but a lot of people who i people but a lot of people who aren't famous get honoured and that must be amazing for them. absolutely. the majority of people on the honours list are people on the honours list are people who are not in the public eye who have just been working in their communities and are overwhelmed and overjoyed to be recognised because so much of the attention is on the famous people. i must say

sl the postims as did a horizon had no bugs, errors or defects. sl the post office a horizon had no bugs, errors or defects. sl the post office ind a who joined the post office in the 60s and 70s, several coming to occupy the most senior positions at some 20 or 30 years later. a picture emerged of a company in the late 20th century and the early part of this century which certainly at a senior level had little experience in the understanding of the it revolution which had already taken place in many other companies and which it was inevitable that post office had to join. was inevitable that post office had tojoin. it is a source of deep regret to post office that the reliance on fujitsu and of the reliance on fujitsu and of the belief in the reliability of horizon which emerged in those early days was allowed to take root within post office in the decades that followed. post office has referred in its written closings in earlier phases to a mindset that took attaching to responsibilities attaching to those roles. they either did not have sufficient personal experie

let's go live to the post office horizon it inquiry which will today begin hearing closing statementsidence presented during all seven phases of the three year long inquiry. more than 700 postmasters were convicted of theft, false accounting and thousands more force to make up shortfalls after a problem with fujitsu's horizon software. four suicides were also blamed on this. an it project gone wrong. that was because it would be an inquiry that was actually about people, by people whose mental and physical health had been impacted. about people whose marriages and partnerships had deteriorated and failed. about people who thought about taking their own lives and in some cases who took their own lives. since that time, we have been engaged in a rather substantial task. we have disclosed 270,785 documents to the participants in the inquiry. as you have heard me say, the contemporaneous material has been the lifeblood of the inquiry because it has allowed us properly to test what witnesses have said to us. i am reliably informed the page count is 2 million pages, so we have had plenty of

vennels did need visibility was whether second sight or the post office teams engaged in the project had identified problems with the horizonthe information she received during the review was that neither second sight nor post office had identified any systemwide problems with the it system, being briefed on those terms in an e—mailfrom ms crichton on the 19th of march, 2013. and from a call with lord arbuthnot on the 23rd of may, 2013. the key message in that briefing being, we are concerned that the investigation is overrunning, that the findings will not be definitive and there will be no satisfactory outcome to the horizon question. the message at 2.6 was, the investigation has been running for a year and to date no evidence of systemic failures has been found. and at 5.3, post office is not saying horizon has frequent defects. systems of this nature occasionally encounter problems. we are confident, though, that no sub postmaster has been wrongly convicted or suspended due to horizon defects. in addition, she was brief for the board call on the 1st ofjuly 2013 as follows. notes for board update on second sight investig

manipulation, he suggested that the post office had the attitude of the office had the attitude of the mid—victorian factory owner and said that it was as if horizonare was the post office's faithful spy and he said that the removal of the right of the subpostmasters to challenge the figures that were generated by that was a form of modern corporate tyranny. so really strong words to begin the closing statements today. and edward henry casey was also critical. he said people have died, people will die with no redress. the closing statements today were opened with the words of sir wyn williams who is chairing the inquiry with an announcement of the death of a former subpostmistress margaret boston who formerly ran a post office in rotherham since 2011 it has been taken over by her daughter but she died last month. it either level as poignant is to what was said about the people who have died while seeking justice and we know people have been wrongly imprisoned and there have been suicides as well. this is something where people have been affected by this for years now. just to give you an indication, it has been more than two years since this inqui

but the post office in paragraph 65 and 66 claims that the horizon risks advice note, drafted by dickinson in august, never got to the board, that there was no evidence that it got to there was no evidence that it got to the board, that there was no evidence that it was shared with the board, or summarised with the board. and then they say this, quotation, this may explain, quotation, why the post office appears not to have focused on the real risk of convictions being overturned and claims for malicious prosecution at an earlier stage. there is evidence, but they haven't referred to it. the evidence that showed that the lawyers were telling paula vinyl is not to do anything at all that might promote proactive criminal disclosure. the e—mails that the post office have not referred to the 2nd of september e—mails that you flemington formatted to her said this, they were advising miss venells not to conduct a lessons learned review. and she read that advice and she understood it and the reason why andrew parsons was advising her not to conduct a lessons learned review into the second site ha

castleton is one of four former subpostmasters wrongly accused of taking money from the post office in the horizonal, who've been made obes for their campaigning work, along with christopher head, jo hamilton and seema misra, who says she hopes the award will help them in their ongoing fight for the proper compensation they believe they deserve. definitely, you know, at least, you know, the state realised that the scandal happened and it shows that it hasn't still sorted out. so the fight is still on. so fingers crossed with the award and everything, it will put more pressure as well to get it sooner rather than later. in the world of entertainment. oscar—nominated actor carey mulligan, coronation street and last tango in halifax star anne reid and happy valley's sarah lancashire have all been made cbes for services to drama. lancashire describing the award as an unexpected delight. keely hodgkinson! olympic gold medallist and bbc sports personality of the year keely hodgkinson says it's amazing to be made an mbe. and one of britain's most decorated olympians, rower helen glover, says she's so hap