El Shaikh

The ICO has today found that all Brisbane Reports are protected by POL’s legal privilege & exempt from disclosure under FOI. This, despite acknowledging the public interest balance in this case to be ‘unusually close’ & public interest in disclosure to be ‘exceptionally strong’.

Details of DBT’s new Horizon Shortfall Scheme appeal process whereby the Fixed Sum Offer of £75,000 can be challenged. Applicants must register for permission to appeal within 4 months from the scheme’s launch on 2 November 2026: gov.uk/government/publicatio…

Joshua Rozenberg interviews the president of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Today the tribunal holds three POL case management hearings, one of which involves its former general counsel, Jane MacLeod: rozenberg.substack.com/p/fir…

The PO Inquiry makes a further appeal for contributions to its listening project ‘In Your Own Words’ which gives those affected by the scandal a platform to share their stories & experiences: ‘Take this opportunity to share your perspective and ensure your voice is included’

MP Katrina Murray asked the Business Department’s Secretary of State eight piecing questions regarding the eligibility criteria for Post Office’s HSS Appeals process. Not one was adequately answered yesterday by the BIST Minister of State, Kate Dearden:  theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id…

An urgent appeal from trustees of the Horizon Scandal Fund: ‘We need £5000 to continue helping while redress schemes catch up’. Our work is not yet done but our funds are dwindling & wholly dependent on public donations. Thank you. 🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘🆘 horizonscandalfund.org/news/…

craftygorilla.co.uk/ Pete Murray has written an extraordinary autobiography ‘The Making and Breaking of a Subpostmaster’ available via this link. It’s been a privilege to know Pete for part of his journey, here’s my forward to his book:

Nick Wallis reports on two Tribunal decisions which have upheld Post Office’s right to withhold information on the grounds of legal privilege, despite this exemption being qualified by the weight of public interest: postofficescandal.uk/post/pr…

The Inquiry has today published its third paper under the Listening Project, following an engagement session in Scotland. It records the bullying, harassment, displacement, shame & trauma experienced by those impacted by the Post Office Horizon Scandal: postofficehorizoninquiry.org…

🆘 Thanks @stugoo17 for your superb analysis of a deeply disappointing ruling. The path of the Horizon scandal is strewn with lives ruined by POL’s withholding of legally privileged material. Today, in broad daylight, it simply defaults to the behaviours of its malevolent past:

Referring to the Horizon Scandal as a ‘shocking abuse’ & ‘massive Government error’ the PAC this week pressed DBT’s Carl Creswell to fully investigate where the money went which was paid by SPMs to balance non-existent shortfalls:  committees.parliament.uk/ora…

On 17 June, a First Tier Tribunal will decide whether the ICO was right in its decision not to force the PO to disclose its secret Horizon Shortfall Scheme Case Assessment Principles and Case Assessment Guidance. A previous thread, below, includes the original ICO reasoning:

According to data published on 3 June 26, as of 22 May 2026 there were 14,086 eligible applicants to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The Post Office is still processing a backlog of claims and expects this figure to rise further:

Congratulations dear Betty Brown OBE:  ‘I’ll never forget the misery, the heartache, the tears, the deaths’