Nick Read: ‘There will be a view that not every quashed conviction will be innocent subpostmasters’
Post Office chief executive Nick Read has said some people at the organisation may have held the view that “not every quashed conviction” was an “innocent” subpostmaster.
He told the long-running Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry:
I don’t think I could say specifically that that is the case but there will be a view that not every quashed conviction will be innocent postmasters.
The majority of the organisation would agree that the action that has been taken is absolutely the right action and whether there are guilty postmasters that have been exonerated really is no longer an issue.
Key events
Glencore’s billionaire former head of oil trading, Alex Beard, and five other ex-employees of the Swiss-based global commodity trader will stand trial in a London court in 2027 on bribery charges.
Beard, who indicated at his first court appearance last month that he will plead not guilty, was not formally asked to enter a plea at a brief hearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The 57-year-old is charged with two counts of conspiracy to make corrupt payments to government officials and officials of state-owned oil companies in Nigeria between 2010 and 2014, and in Cameroon between 2007 and 2014.
In August, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office Beard with conspiring to make corrupt payments to benefit the commodities company’s oil operations in West Africa.
Beard, who ran Glencore’s oil division from 2007 until his retirement in 2019, will face charges alongside former Glencore executives Andrew Gibson, Paul Hopkirk, Ramon Labiaga and Martin Wakefield after a long-running investigation into allegations of bribery at the company.
Beard, who became a billionaire when Glencore listed in London in 2011, is the highest profile individual charged after the SFO’s sweeping investigation into Glencore which began in 2019 under the codename Operation Azoth.
The pound has touched a one-month low against the dollar, as markets reassess the varying interest rate paths of the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
Sterling has slipped by 0.2% to $1.3075. The dollar hit a one-month high against a basket of major currencies.
Sterling has been under pressure since Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said in an interview with the Guardian last week that the central bank could become “more aggressive” on interest rate cuts if inflation pressures continue to weaken.
Previously, the pound had been supported by expectations that the Fed would cut much more than the Bank this year. But it is now down by more than 2% since the start of the month.
Here is some analysis from last week:
The Bank of Israel kept interest rates unchanged today for the sixth time in a row, maintaining a cautious stance as Israel’s year-long war with Hamas in Gaza and fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon has led to higher inflation and weaker economic activity.
The central bank, which is also worried about Israel’s rising investor risk premium, left its benchmark rate at 4.5%.
It cut the rate by 25 basis points in January after inflation eased and economic growth slowed amid the Gaza war, but kept policy steady in February, April, May, July and August.
Israel’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.6% in August from 3.2% in July, further above the government’s 1%-3% target range, after falling as low as 2.5% in February.
Its economy grew at an annualised rate of 0.7% in the second quarter, a sharp slowdown from the 17.2% growth in the first quarter.
Kalyeena Makortoff
UK bank CEOs gathered in Whitehall this morning for a meeting with Rachel Reeves, who was trying to sound out what kind of post-budget measures could support the City and drive forward the government’s growth agenda.
It is understood that the heads of major lenders including HSBC’s new group chief executive Georges Elhedery, NatWest Group’s Paul Thwaite and Santander UK’s Miles Regnier took part in a discussion about competitiveness and City regulation.
That included how upcoming Basel 3 rules would be implemented, as well as continued concerns around fraud, just days after new compensation rules came into force.
Ultimately, there was “nothing groundbreaking” discussed as part of the meeting, according to a source with knowledge of the meeting. And nothing, apparently, that would give bank bosses a steer on what might happen around the budget.
The annual Mansion House dinner, which is a set piece for the new chancellor and gives her a chance to address City leaders, is due to take place on 14 November.
The British paper and packaging firm Mondi is the top riser on the FTSE 100, after it struck a deal to buy the German, Benelux and UK packaging assets of the German family business Schumacher Packaging for €634m including debt, to expand in Western Europe.
Mondi shares are up by 4.6%.
The company lost out in a takeover battle for London-based rival DS Smith after US firm International Paper, one of the largest paper and pulp companies in the world, outbid it.
Ireland’s Smurfit Kappa bought US rival Westrock in July to create Smurfit Westrock.
Mondi’s chief executive Andrew King said:
This acquisition significantly increases our corrugated converting capacity, extends our reach across Western Europe, and offers strong downstream integration opportunities.
Wall Street futures are pointing to a lower open in half an hour, as investors await the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting, out tonight, and inflation data tomorrow.
Shares in Google owner Alphabet are down by 0.7% in pre-market trading, after it emerged that the US government is considering asking a judge to force the breakup of Google’s business as it attempts to challenge the tech corporation’s monopoly over the internet search market.
Stocks in the UK and the rest of Europe are slightly down (France, Italy) or slightly higher (UK, Germany).
Here is our full story on the earlier slump in Chinese stocks:
Chinese stocks have suffered their worst fall in 27 years after efforts by Beijing to stimulate the world’s second-largest economy disappointed investors.
Stock markets in Asia fell sharply after China’s top economic planning authority failed to announce further measures to improve flagging growth.
On Tuesday, the National Development and Reform Commission held a press conference in which officials were expected to reveal specific policies to supplement the stimulus measures announced last month.
However, the hoped-for policy plans were not forthcoming. Instead, the NDRC officials mostly summarised September’s announcements and commented on the general economic situation.
Top banks are pushing the UK to relax its stance on deferred bonuses and clawbacks as regulators prepare to revise their post-financial crisis rulebook, Bloomberg reports.
Discussions between financial firms and watchdogs are intensifying over the UK’s rules, which were introduced to curb “excessive-risk taking” about a decade ago and are among the strictest in the world. Senior managers have to defer part of their pay for up to seven years, and face clawbacks for a decade if issues emerge.
The topic has been a key focus for banks and their lobby groups since British regulators lifted a cap on bonuses last October, removing one of the key reforms introduced by the EU in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and clearing the way for awards above the previous limit of two times’ bankers’ salary. Under the previous Conservative government, the regulators were given an extra duty to support the UK’s competitiveness.
Talks have ramped up in recent months and the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority will publish new proposals soon, Bloomberg said.
In August, Barclays became the first UK bank to formally lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses originally imposed by the EU, opening the door for staff to receive 10 times their salaries in payouts.
The announcement was made through an internal memo to staff, four months after shareholders at Barclays’ AGM approved the move to drop the measure.
The global economy could face losses of $14.5 trillion over five years from a potential geopolitical conflict that causes widespread disruption to global trade and supply chains, according to Lloyd’s of London.
The world’s biggest insurance market says that with more than 80% of the world’s imports and exports – around 11bn tons of goods – at sea at any given time, the closure of major trade routes due to a geopolitical conflict is one of the greatest threats to the global economy.
The economic impacts of this (hypothetical) scenario stem primarily from severe damage to infrastructure in the conflict region and the need for realignment of global trade networks due to the enforcement of sanctions and the effects of compromised shipping lines.
The impact on businesses depends on the region they are located in and its factors such as involvement in the conflict, reliance on international trade and the goods that would be delayed or lost due to the supply chain disruptions.
Europe for example, which is heavily reliant upon other major economies for supplies like semiconductors for car and electronics manufacturing, could stand to lose up to $3.4trn.
Rebekah Clement, Lloyd’s corporate affairs director, said:
Lloyd’s is supportive of public-private efforts to avoid global crises such as shortages of vital commodities and is committed to helping businesses remain resilient and prepare for the risks from widespread disruptions and financial loss from countless global risks, including geopolitical stability.
The value of insurance also extends to the compounding secondary impacts of geopolitical conflict, including downstream delays and interruptions by impacted trading partners and suppliers. Examples of insurance covers which can help businesses protect themselves against these impacts include political risk insurance and contingent business interruption, as well as dedicated war risk insurance.
Nestlé trials Quality Street paper tubs at Tesco
Zoe Wood
Taking a quick break from the inquiry.
Tucking into a tub of Quality Street is Christmas tradition for many British families and once they have scoffed the chocolates the handy container takes on a new life as a cake tin or Lego storage box.
But the really useful plastic tub could be looking at its last Christmas as the confectionery brand’s owner tests the reaction of Quality Street fans to a new paper container.
While the new vessel is born out of a desire by the brand’s owner, Nestlé, to cut its use of virgin plastic the public reaction is hard to predict.
In 2022 the decision to replace Quality Street’s colourful plastic wrappers with recyclable paper ones received mixed reviews. Indeed the TikTok riposte of one former Quality Street lover went viral after she called it a “travesty”, and said “who wants to eat this piece of garbage”.
However Nestlé has stuck with the paper wrappers and has now gone a step further. It has produced around 200,000 of the paper tubs which will go on sale in selected Tesco stores from next week.
But after years of shrinking tubs – mercifully this year the product has the same weight and recommended price of £5.50 – and altered line-ups Nestlé knows it has a hard sell on its hands. To this end it claims the tub, in the signature Quality Street purple, has a “luxurious design, and feel, and is embellished with gold foil”. It also has an “integrated re-close feature” which sounds like a fancy term for a lid.
Jemma Handley, senior brand manager for Quality Street, said:
We’re looking forward to seeing what Quality Street fans make of the paper tub. A lot of care and hard work has gone into the trial and we’re proud to be the first major manufacturer to trial a paper tub at Christmas.
Nick Read: ‘There will be a view that not every quashed conviction will be innocent subpostmasters’
Post Office chief executive Nick Read has said some people at the organisation may have held the view that “not every quashed conviction” was an “innocent” subpostmaster.
He told the long-running Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry:
I don’t think I could say specifically that that is the case but there will be a view that not every quashed conviction will be innocent postmasters.
The majority of the organisation would agree that the action that has been taken is absolutely the right action and whether there are guilty postmasters that have been exonerated really is no longer an issue.
Nick Read: No staff in ‘postmaster-facing activities’ who were involved in wrongful prosecutions
Mark Sweney
The chief executive of the Post Office has said that there are no staff involved in “postmaster-facing activities” who were involved in historical investigations and wrongful prosecutions, despite the controversy about so-called “untouchables” still in the organisation’s ranks.
The public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal has previously heard testimony that Nick Read, who joined as chief executive in 2019 with a pledge to “right the wrongs of the past”, has used the phrase “untouchables”.
This refers to a group of the organisation’s investigators and staff involved in the pursuit of post office operators who would never face disciplinary action over the Horizon IT scandal.
On Tuesday, the inquiry was shown a whistleblowing document claiming there were “at least 120 employees” at the Post Office who “to a greater or lesser degree were involved in the wrongful prosecution of SPMs [sub-postmasters]”.
“I have been very clear at no stage will we walk past allegations of wrongdoing in the organisation,” said Read, giving testimony on the first of three days at the inquiry. “Where evidence of wrongdoing is brought to my attention, or anyone else’s attention in the organisation, we will investigate and take action fully.”
Jason Beer, counsel for the inquiry, asked Read on Wednesday about whether some staff involved in the investigation and wrongful prosecution of postmasters are the same personnel involved in the compensation claim procedure under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
Beer said that those individuals also attend face-to-face “good faith” meetings with subpostmasters, despite their historical actions.
Read, who has submitted four witness statements totally 307 pages of written evidence to the inquiry, said:
I can’t say there have not been individuals involved in improper investigations and wrongful prosecution who were involved in the handling of compensation claims under the Horizon Shortfall Scheme.
It depends what you mean involved. I am confident there are no individuals involved in postmaster-facing activity that had roles in the past where allegations or anything of wrongdoing has been brought to my attention.
Post Office CEO Nick Read appears before Horizon inquiry
Nick Read, the outgoing chief executive of the Post Office, is appearing before the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.
He is due to give three days of testimony from today. Read, who was brought in to replace Paula Vennells in 2019 and “right the wrongs of the past”, announced in the summer that he was stepping back from running the company to focus on preparing and proving that “nothing like this could happen again”.
The executive, who has given himself 88 days to prepare for his appearance, has come under heavy criticism from witnesses and become embroiled in a reputational crisis of his own.
You can watch the hearing here:
My colleague Mark Sweney has looked at the key issues the judge-led inquiry is likely to ask him to explain.
