London (AFP) – Thirteen people caught up in a faulty accounting software scandal at British Post Office branches may have killed themselves and 59 more contemplated doing so, a public inquiry report published Tuesday said.
The Post Office wrongfully prosecuted around 1,000 subpostmasters -- self-employed branch managers -- between 1999 and 2015.
Errors in tech giant Fujitsu's Legacy Horizon accounting software incorrectly made it appear that money was missing from their accounts.
Many ended up bankrupt after being forced by the Post Office to pay back the missing funds. Some were jailed.
Dozens who were later exonerated died without ever seeing their names cleared.
Inquiry chair Wyn Williams said that there was a "real possibility" that 13 people killed themselves as a result of their ordeal.
Ten people attempted to take their own lives and 59 contemplated it, the report into the scandal found.
Many of the prosecutions took place after questions were raised about the software's reliability.
Police are investigating possible fraud committed during the scandal.
"I am satisfied from the evidence that I have heard that a number of senior, and not-so-senior employees of the Post Office knew or, at the very least should have known, that Legacy Horizon was capable of error," Williams said in the report.
"Yet... the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate," he added.
A "number of senior" people at the Post Office were aware the system was capable of error before it was changed in 2010, he said.
Welcoming the findings, former branch manager Jo Hamilton said the report showed "the full scale of the horror that they unleashed on us".
Williams described the picture of the scandal that had emerged as "profoundly disturbing".
"Many thousands of people have suffered serious financial detriment. Many people have inevitably suffered emotional turmoil and significant stress.
"Many businesses and homes have been lost. Bankruptcies have occurred, marriage and families have been wrecked," he said.
Among those who gave evidence to the inquiry was former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells who was quizzed about what she knew and when.
Vennells broke down in tears when recalling the case of one man who took his own life after being wrongly accused over a £39,000 ($49,537) shortfall at his branch.
The long-running saga hit the headlines after the broadcast in January 2024 of a television drama about the managers' ordeal, which generated a wave of sympathy and outrage.
Fujitsu's European director Paul Patterson told a parliamentary committee later that the firm, which assisted the Post Office in prosecutions using flawed data from the software, was "truly sorry" for "this appalling miscarriage of justice".
Many of those involved are still battling for compensation.
The government's Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said last month that 7,569 claims out of the 11,208 received had now been paid, leaving 3,709 still to be settled.
Alan Bates, a former branch manager who led the fight for justice, has said the compensation process has "turned into quasi-kangaroo courts".
Bates, who was awarded a knighthood by King Charles III for his campaign to highlight the scandal, told the Sunday Times newspaper in May the DBT "sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses".
Post Office Minister Gareth Thomas said last month the government had made it a priority to speed up the delivery of compensation since taking office in July 2024.
Seven NASA leaders of NASA's science activities released a joint statement condemning the proposed 47% cuts to the agency’s science activities in the White House’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget request.
Stanotte, così, di colpo, mentre che stavo lì nel mio lettino dormendo tranquillamente per conto mio, ho sognato che erano arrivate le IDF a bombardare il mio comune. Ok, no, sto scherzando, non l’ho sognato… bensì l’ho immaginato da sveglia, addirittura. Infatti, verso la mattina molto presto (che per me è piena notte, ormai), mi […]
temporalesco bombardamento con risveglio amaro di guerra! (temporale notturno terrificante)
Stanotte, così, di colpo, mentre che stavo lì nel mio lettino dormendo tranquillamente per conto mio, ho sognato che erano arrivate le IDF a bombardare il mio comune. Ok, no, sto scherzando, non l’ho sognato… bensì l’ho immaginato da sveglia, addirittura. Infatti, verso la mattina molto presto (che per me è piena notte, ormai), mi sono svegliata malamente sentendo dei rumori allucinanti che, vi giuro, sembravano delle fottute bombe, sganciate di continuo con pause di poche decine di secondi tra l’una e l’altra. Tutto mentre io volevo solamente dormire, che con ‘sto caldo maledetto già è difficile… la cosa non è finita per niente bene. 😩
Quello che a quanto pare è davvero successo è semplicemente che è arrivato un temporale di come credo di non averne mai sentiti in tutta la mia vita, perché io in genere non mi sveglio mai anche quando fa bruttissimo tempo… eppure, stavolta è successo. Ciò che udivo fortissimo, nonostante tutte le finestre serrate e la porta della mia stanza chiusa come al solito, quindi, erano fulmini… o almeno, questo è quello che dicono i poteri forti, ma io un po’ fatico a crederci. Magari mi ricordo male eh, perché già ero a metà tra il sonno e la veglia, e ovviamente tutto il disturbo non ha potuto fare altro che peggiorarmi l’umore, ma giuro di aver sentito ogni volta addirittura l’onda d’urto addosso, cioè la vibrazione. Praticamente se questi fossero davvero fulmini, e non ordigni, allora probabilmente erano larghi quanto un grattacielo e sono caduti a svariate decine di kilometri di distanza… ben fuori dal mio comune… Quindi… si può per caso dire che gli israeliani non hanno bombardato il mio comune, ma la mia provincia si??? (È persino saltata la corrente per dei minuti!) 😭
Credo di aver perso circa 10 minuti di sonno così ma, sicuramente, la mia concezione del tempo in quello stato è da diffidare… e, stranamente, la mia Mi Band stanotte non ha registrato un singolo minuto di zzz (se non l’ultimissimo quarto d’ora, che ha per qualche motivo contato come sonnellino). E passino i fulmini che mi sono sembrati chiaramente bombe nonostante io nel frattempo riuscissi a sentire fortissime le gocce di pioggia (perché alla fine che cazzo ne so da richiusa nel mio letto, magari davvero stavano radendo la città al tappeto e le gocce che sentivo o erano sostanze chimiche che venivano fatte piovere per causare ulteriori danni, o erano le nuvole che rilasciavano l’acqua per sbalzi di temperatura dovuti alle esplosioni), ma il fatto che proprio stanotte la Mi Band abbia malfunzionato mi fa specialmente paura… così come mi fa paura che ormai, nonostante siamo nell’anno del Signore 2025, la guerra è così tanto un fatto attuale che — pur senza viverla, ma solo sentendone parlare a ripetizione da qualche anno — entra nel subconscio a tal punto da farci scambiare fenomeni naturali per un attacco umano, quando il cervello non ha abbastanza informazioni per disambiguare. ☠️ Pensandoci, forse è un po’ un peccato che non solo quei rumori non fossero esplosioni, ma che non ci fosse nemmeno vento (almeno, così mi ha detto mio padre)… neanche un piccolo tornado, niente di niente. Quello sarebbe stato divertente, così whooosh, e volavo via, e quindi ihihih, basta vivere in questo carcere spirituale!!! 🌪️ #estate #meteo #night #notte #scary #sleep #sonno #summer #temporale #thunderstorm #weather
Not forgetting there are certain disabilities where it is just impossible to work under capitalism and that’s okay. Not everyone has to work to be valuable.
Rinviato di un anno lo stop alle auto e ai veicoli commerciali diesel Euro 5. Via libera delle commissioni riunite Ambiente e Trasporti della Camera a un
Recently, Magic Lane (the company that makes the Magic Earth application) completely renewed their interface and general operation.
To use the application, you now have to pay €0.99/year. Personally, I find this price more than reasonable for supporting a European alternative to Google Maps.
For me, the CoMaps (or OrganicMaps) application is pretty good for the map side of things. On the other hand, when it comes to navigation, I find Magic Earth much more complete (speed camera display, better traffic management, optimized interface for landscape navigation, reporting of road events, better precision of lanes to follow, and I'm forgetting many others).
I agree. For example, in Toronto CoMaps only shows subway navigation to a certain destination, whereas Magic Earth displays a more precise mix of transit options (subway+tram/bus)
I hate that “Libertarianism” in US-english means those “free” market dumbasses.
It actually meant anarchist (anti-capitalist) originally and was a euphemism for anarchist when it was banned to be one. It still means that in French generally.
I mean, it's not atypical for Americans to completely redefine a political definition so badly it loses all meaning. Just look at how most of us define our "leftist" leadership.....
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
We have this "meritocratic" right wing christian "centrist" relishing in the fact that Debian has gone political (AKA Woke) & is now struggling because the devs don't want to work for them.
The good-ol get woke go broke schtik, I was wondering if some of nice people could share your opinions on it, especially on his solutions
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.
The US General Services Administration (GSA) has announced an agreement with Oracle it claims offers a 75 percent discount on the vendor's license-based technology.
However, experts have pointed out that heavy discounts are commonly offered to Oracle customers, and a 75 percent discount might not be as good as it sounds. Big Red can lock customers into deals stipulating that any attempt to reduce Oracle usage can see discounts disappear and prices rise.
As part of the arrangement, the GSA has agreed to other base discounts for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services including the vendor's latest database, Oracle Database 23ai. The agreement eliminates data egress fees and provides pricing parity with commercial offerings, a statement said. The Register has asked the GSA how this was benchmarked.
In 2023, analysis by IT procurement consultant Michael Garland found that Oracle and Microsoft get at least 25 percent and 30 percent of their respective government revenue through purchase processes that are not competitive, collectively benefiting by $10-15 billion annually.
IBM revealed IBM Power11 - redesigned w/innovations across its processor, HW architecture, & virtualization SW stack, & is designed to deliver the avail., resiliency, perf.
The Tony Blair Institute helped form a plan that proposed selling land in Gaza via blockchain tokens, the Financial Times reported Monday, after paying Palestinians to leave their land. The tokenization project would have also seen the region rebuilt with Dubai-style artificial islands and “blockchain-trade initiatives,” complete with Elon Musk and Donald Trump-themed areas.
A slide deck titled the “Great Trust” was developed by the Boston Consulting Group, or BCG, the FT reported on Sunday, with participation from two staff members from the Tony Blair Institute—an organization founded by the former UK prime minister. It was shared with the Trump administration, according to the FT, which echoed similar sentiments in February.
The deck suggested paying half a million Palestinians to leave Gaza to attract private investors to redevelop the area, following Israel’s bombings. It proposed that the public land in Gaza be put into a trust and sold via “digital tokens traded on a blockchain.” Gazans could add their private land into the trust in return for a token that would give them the right to a housing unit.
amerika is such a disgusting nation, with a history of doing this in many different ways since it was founded. kill and drive out all locals and claim the land as their own. bringing “democracy” to war torn areas. you know why it’s war torn? CAUSE THE US MADE IT WAR TORN
The aviation industry is constantly evolving to enhance passenger experience, operational efficiency, and sustainability. A vital component of this transformation is the Cabin Interior Composites Market, which is gaining remarkable traction worldwide. A new industry report highlights the rapid growth, key innovations, and strategic developments in this space, underscoring its critical role in modern aircraft design.
Cabin Interior Composites Market Size was estimated at 3.17 (USD Billion) in 2022. The Cabin Interior Composites Market is expected to grow from 3.34 (USD Billion) in 2023 to 5.4 (USD Billion) by 2032. The Cabin Interior Composites Market CAGR (growth rate) is expected to be around 5.48% during the forecast period (2024 - 2032).
As airlines seek lightweight, durable, and aesthetically pleasing cabin materials, composites have become the go-to solution. From seats and panels to flooring and overhead bins, composite materials are revolutionizing how aircraft interiors are built and experienced.
Cabin interior composites refer to advanced materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties. These materials—typically including carbon fiber, fiberglass, and aramid—offer superior strength-to-weight ratios, fire resistance, and design flexibility. In aviation, these composites are used in a variety of applications including seat frames, wall panels, luggage compartments, lavatories, and galleys.
The Cabin Interior Composites Market is a crucial enabler of the next generation of air travel—where safety, comfort, sustainability, and efficiency converge. As highlighted in the latest report, continuous innovations, rising passenger expectations, and global regulatory pressures are accelerating the shift toward composite-based interiors. Industry stakeholders who invest in material innovation, digital manufacturing, and sustainable practices will be best positioned to capitalize on this growth trajectory.
In a bizarre twist that only the internet age could produce, Ai Weiwei, the legendary Chinese dissident artist, has reportedly purchased all 265,222 words of James Joyce’s Ulysses — but not to read…
I have never seen security and privacy checklists used for any other purpose but deception. After pondering this observation, I’m left seriously doubting if comparison checklists have any val…
Several medical organizations filed a lawsuit against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., arguing that current policies on Covid vaccines pose a threat.
The EV boom has brought a surge Chinese investment into Zimbabwe’s lithium mines, but many locals say they’re being pushed out, exploited, and left behind.
Following the example of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which is moving 30,000 PCs from Microsoft Office/365 to LibreOffice, the Danish Ministry of Digitalisation is doing the same.
Following the example of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which is moving 30,000 PCs from Microsoft Office/365 to LibreOffice, the Danish Ministry of Digitalisation is doing the same.
Visto e onsiderato che Citiverse nasce proprio per le realtà locali penso sia il caso di chiudere questa comunità chiedendo di usare solo l'altra. Su Citiverse è inoltre prevista la possibilità di creare anche delle sottocategorie delle città per i vari quartieri quindi sarà possibile in futuro e su richiesta aprire comunità di Lambrate, San Siro etc cosa invece più complessa e meno gestibile qui su Feddit.
@mapto@feddit.it attualmente sei moderatore di questa comunità, se hai piacere posso farti mod anche di quella su Citiverse.
Scopri il significato della parola precursóre. Nel Vocabolario Treccani troverai significato ed etimologia del termine che cerchi. Entra subito su Treccani.it, il portale del sapere.
Quello che dipende da me per avere una comunità di Lambrate nel citiverso lo farei. Ho sempre pensato che l'attuale lemmy.world non è il contesto giusto, quindi mi sposterei come aggiornamenti. Il modo attuale che lo uso è per popolarizzare argomenti che girano tramite comunicazioni chiusi e per darli una spezie di permalink pubblico dal fediverso. Questo permette di cercare altre novità avendo casualmente attivato da una.
ok perfetto, compare in stile forum qui: citiverse.it/category/113/lamb… ed è sotto la categoria Milano e può essere trovata sul fediverso da chiunque con @lambrate@citiverse.it
For those who haven't been paying attention, it appears Amazon is trying to "disrupt" the grocery market. Anecdotally they have been selling shit for crazy low prices and they'll make like 30 separate trips to your house all on the same day with lined/insulated packing for the perishable items and frozen water bottles (no extra charge to the customer) in each bag to keep the food cool in transit.
It seems like there is no way they can be making money on this process, which tells me they are speedrunning Walmarts strategy of operating at a loss to force other grocers out of the market.
So they are taking a page from YouTube where they out price the market until they are the market, and then will drastically raise prices because there’s no longer any competition?
Yeah but I feel like that only worked because YouTube was still fairly new and a niche market compared to groceries, which everbody needs. I don't see how even Amazon can try to kill the competition in a market that huge, regardless of price or convenience.
I don't see how even Amazon can try to kill the competition in a market that huge, regardless of price or convenience.
So I assume you wrote this after picking up groceries from your locally owned grocery store? Because you still have one - it didn't collapse due to a Walmart coming to town?
Most of us have a solid example of what driving a grocery store out of business looks like, though.
As often reminded, that's probably a zoning issue.
Here on a different continent I live in an area BESIEGED by supermarkets, but I buy most of my groceries at the baker (breadmaker) and fruit-and-vegetables shop down the street. They're more expensive but more convenient and higher quality.
With the advantage of there not being a butcher as close-by, meaning I've been eating way more veggies since moving (and eggs, given those are sold in both stores).
Now the issue is they're opening a new pedestrian path that leads straight from my home to the pastry shop on the neighboring block!
Musk, the billionaire businessman behind Tesla and SpaceX, influenced several new Texas laws this year. How his lobbyists came about these wins, however, is more of a mystery.
His lobbyists, who represented Tesla, SpaceX and the social media giant X Corp., spent tens of thousands of dollars on things like gifts and meals for Texas elected officials and others during the session, according to an analysis of state ethics data. In most cases, Texas transparency laws do not require lobbyists to disclose which politicians they wined and dined or on behalf of which clients.
A slate of ethics bills, including several to require transparency into who funds mass text messages for political campaigns, failed to become law this year, according to The Texas Tribune. Meanwhile, legislators approved a new law that will reduce the fine for former lawmakers who engage in illegal lobbying activity.
Lawmakers filed dozens of bills that would increase transparency around spending in elections and strengthen penalties for campaign and lobbying violations. None are poised to pass.
A recent effort to bolster emergency communication infrastructure failed in the Texas Senate earlier this year
As the death toll from flash floods in Central Texas climbs past 80, scrutiny is mounting over Kerr County's past decisions to reject an outdoor siren alert system due to cost concerns.
Kerr County, located in a flood-prone region of the Texas Hill Country, has previously dismissed proposals for siren-based warning systems, citing financial burden on local taxpayers.
A recent effort at the state level to bolster emergency communication infrastructure, House Bill 13, failed in the Texas Senate earlier this year. The bill would have funded improved disaster alert systems and provided grants for counties to build infrastructure like sirens and radio towers, according to the Texas Tribune.
Some lawmakers, including state Rep. Wes Virdell, voted against it due to its projected $500 million cost, though several now admit they're reconsidering in the wake of recent events.
A Texas county rejected siren alert systems in the past due to high costs. But after recent flash floods, state and local officials face renewed questions.
My side project, MindNote is live on Product Hunt!
It is an AI notetaker to help you write x10 times faster. You can input information in any format: written, voice, video to text or image to text. After, you can complete or edit your notes with a prompt.
AI-notetaking app designed to keep your ideas, thoughts, and memories organized and accessible wherever you go. Input text in any format: written, voice, video-to-text(YouTube transcript), or image-to-text. Then, edit your input text using a prompt.
Have you ever been reading a Wikipedia article and tapped out because it's just too dense and difficult to read? Simple English Wikipedia exists to help make articles easier to read and understand.
Have you ever been reading a Wikipedia article and tapped out because it's just too dense and difficult to read? Simple English Wikipedia exists to help make articles easier to read and understand.
Pensandoci, forse è un po’ un peccato che non solo quei rumori non fossero esplosioni, ma che non ci fosse nemmeno vento (almeno, così mi ha detto mio padre)… neanche un piccolo tornado, niente di niente. Quello sarebbe stato divertente, così whooosh, e volavo via, e quindi ihihih, basta vivere in questo carcere spirituale!!! 🌪️
lgsp@feddit.it
in reply to Alphane Moon • • •