Yvonne Tracey: Former Post Office worker to challenge Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey at general election

Published

1 year ago

January 13, 2024

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A woman who spent more than three decades working for the Post Office is planning to stand against Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey – a former postal affairs minister – at the next general election.

Yvonne Tracey, who said ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office had made her “very sad” and “very angry”, lives in Sir Ed’s constituency of Kingston and Surbiton in southwest London.

The 68-year-old grandmother said she cannot allow him to “stand again unchallenged”.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were wrongly held responsible for accounting errors created by faulty software.

Those affected by the Horizon IT scandal are “still not hearing the truth”, Ms Tracey told Sky News.

They “still haven’t got justice” and “haven’t got answers”, she said. “Some of them haven’t had their names cleared. I just felt I had to do something to help them.”

Sir Ed, who was postal minister between 2010 and 2012 during the coalition government, refused to meet sub-postmaster Alan Bates, whom the ITV drama is named after, saying in a short letter that it “wouldn’t serve any purpose”.

According to Ms Tracey, a sub-postmaster who ran a post office in Sir Ed’s constituency lost his home, his business and attempted to take his own life on more than one occasion after being caught up in the scandal.

She said: “He tried three times to get in touch with Sir Ed and every time he was turned away, refused or ignored.”

The Liberal Democrats said the sub-postmaster lived outside Sir Ed’s constituency and parliamentary convention meant he was therefore unable to get involved in the case.

Asked if the Post Office scandal would still be on people’s minds during the general election campaign, Ms Tracey said she thought it would.

“I think people are so angry over this. I’d love to think by the time the election came it was all done – they’d all have their compensation and be living happily after.

“But we all know it’s not going to happen that quick. It’s been two decades so far.”

Ms Tracey was elected to Kingston Council in 2022 and represents the local residents group.

The main political parties in Kingston previously accused the group of Islamophobia and “divisive campaigning”.

But Ms Tracey said the allegations “really annoyed” her and had led to legal action.

Davey did later meet Mr Bates

Sir Ed did later meet Mr Bates and was the first minister on public record to do so.

It is understood he then asked his officials to follow up on the concerns raised by the sub-postmaster at their meeting.

Speaking previously to Sky News, Sir Ed said: “I wish I’d known then what we all know now. The Post Office was lying on an industrial scale to me and other ministers.

“When I met Alan Bates and listened to his concerns, I put those concerns to officials in my department, to the Post Office and to the National Federation of Postmasters and it’s clear they all were lying to me.”

Dave Penman, the general secretary of the FDA union for civil servants, branded Sir Ed’s comments “outrageous” and said they were an “act of desperation from a former minister trying to save his own skin”.

“Ed Davey goes beyond what is reasonable to expect from a former minister,” he told Sky News. “If he’s going to repeat this he needs to back up his accusations.”

‘I was taken out in handcuffs’

Arfan Aslam can remember the pride he felt when he became a sub-postmaster, writes Sky News correspondent Shingi Mararike.

In his early 20s, he was continuing a family tradition by running a local business. “At the time I was over the moon, because it was like a professional job – it was like a life-changing opportunity,” he said.

Within weeks, that dream had turned into a nightmare. He was arrested and escorted out of the post office in front of his younger brother, who was working with him at the time.

“They’ve taken me out in handcuffs, marched me out of my own post office, in front of these people,” he said.

“Made me look like a criminal. I let my mum and dad down and everything. It broke my heart.”

Arfan said life did not get any easier for him when he left prison. The father-of-three was forced to repay more than £53,000 while he struggled to find work and claimed benefits.

His close-knit family helped him pay off the debts, and now with the Horizon scandal making headlines, he will soon be pursuing compensation, while hoping to have his conviction overturned.

“Any bit of money would help, but we cannot take away the pain and the 22 years of suffering,” he said.

“No bit of money can change that.”

Politics

Polymarket bets on Mark Carney win as Canadians head to the polls

Published

4 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Polymarket bets on Mark Carney win as Canadians head to the polls

Crypto users betting on the outcome of the snap election to determine the next Prime Minister of Canada appear to be favoring a Liberal Party victory as residents head to cast their votes.

As of April 28, cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket gave current Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney a 79% chance of defeating Conservative Party candidate Pierre Poilievre in the race for the country’s next PM. Data from the platform showed users had poured more than $75 million into bets surrounding the race, predicting a Poilievre or Carney victory.

Canada, Betting, Voting, Elections — *Polymarket chances favor the Liberal Party’s Mark Carney over the Conservative Party’s Pierre Poilievre to be the next Canadian Prime Minister. Source:* *Polymarket*

The odds suggested by the platform, as well as those from many polls, show a nearly complete reversal of fortunes between the two candidates after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January. Trudeau and, by association, many in the Liberal Party, faced criticism over the handling of Canada’s housing crisis and questions about how he would face US President Donald Trump’s then-proposed tariffs.

Following Trudeau’s resignation, Trump stepped up rhetoric disparaging Canada, repeatedly referring to the country as the US’s “51st state” and Trudeau as its “governor.” The US President also imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada in March. The policies seem to have led to increasing anti-Trump sentiment in Canada, with many residents booing the US national anthem at hockey games and making comparisons between the president and Poilievre.

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Politics

Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands

Published

5 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Small boat crossings pass 10,000 at earliest point in year since records began, Sky News understands

Small boat crossings have passed 10,000 in 2025 at the earliest point in a year since records began, Sky News understands.

Analysis of previous Home Office numbers and footage of people arriving today show the number of people crossing the Channel continuing to rise.

The issue has become a lodestone for political parties across the spectrum, with Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “Stop The Boats” falling well short.

Politics latest: PM warns of Tory-Reform pact ‘disaster’

Sir Keir Starmer promised to clear the backlog of asylum applications and “Smash The Gangs” of people smugglers upstream, but critics say he has failed to do this almost a year into his stint in Number Ten.

Reform’s Nigel Farage has made the issue key to his party’s pitch to voters.

The 10,000 figure is understood to have been passed on 28 April. Official figures only go until 27 April at the time of writing, with 9,885 people detected crossing the Channel by the UK government at this point

This compares to 7,167 by the same date in 2024, 5,745 in 2023, 5,352 in 2022, and 1,796 in 2021. Data only started to get collected in 2018, and for the first three years fewer than 1,000 people were observed crossing the Channel before 28 April.

Fine weather conditions are known to lead to an increase in people crossing the Channel, with some efforts earlier this year stymied by heavy winds.

Sir Keir scrapped the Conservative’s Rwanda deportation plan when entering office. In March, the prime minister said his government had “returned” 24,000 people who had no right to be in the UK.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Britain’s borders are being torn apart under Labour. This year is already the worst on record for small boat crossings after over 10,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Britain, but Labour just sit on their hands.

“Labour scrapped our deterrent before it even started, flung open the door to extremists and criminals, and handed the bill to hardworking taxpayers.

“Under new Conservative leadership, we are serious about tackling this crisis with deliverable reforms, but Labour continue to block these at every turn. Labour’s open-door chaos is a betrayal of the British people, and we will not let them get away with it.”

Mr Philp was part of previous Conservative governments, which also failed to reduce crossings.

Speaking to broadcasters, Mr Farage said: “If this carries on at this rate, by the end of this Labour government another quarter of a million people will have come into this country, many of whom frankly don’t fit our culture or cost us a fortune.”

He claimed that Reform is “the only party” saying that “unless you deport those that come illegally, they will just continue to come”.

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A Home Office spokesperson said: “We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.

“The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.

“That is why this government has put together a serious plan to take down these networks at every stage.

“Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security and Asylum Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders.”

Politics

Stacks Asia expands Bitcoin initiatives with Abu Dhabi partnership

Published

10 hours ago

April 28, 2025

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Stacks Asia expands Bitcoin initiatives with Abu Dhabi partnership

The Stacks Asia DLT Foundation has become the first Bitcoin-based organization to establish an official presence in the Middle East, aiming to promote institutional Bitcoin adoption through expanded educational initiatives.

Stacks Asia has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) — one of the world’s fastest-growing financial centers — in a move that could boost the adoption of its Bitcoin (BTC) layer-2 (L2) solution in the Middle East and Asia.

The new partnership will play a “pivotal role” in shaping the future of Bitcoin’s “programmability and adoption” in these regions through educational programs and support for Bitcoin builders, according to an April 28 announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Through the collaboration, Stacks and the ADGM aim to make it easier for institutions and investors to participate in the growing Bitcoin economy and help set “new standards for regulatory clarity and technical growth” for the rising global Bitcoin capital, according to Kyle Ellicott, executive director at Stacks Asia DLT Foundation.

“Stacks and ADGM are a powerful combination for accelerating Bitcoin adoption across the Middle East and Asia,” Ellicott told Cointelegraph, adding:

“ADGM has established itself as a world-class global financial hub at the heart of the United Arab Emirates, known as the ‘Capitol of Capital,’ where capital and innovation are brought together to shape the future financial landscape.”

“We’ll be working to enable the launch of educational programs, regional developer communities, and create opportunities for the real-world adoption of Bitcoin-powered applications,” he said.

Starting in May, the foundation will host a series of live and virtual events to “empower institutions” with the knowledge to integrate Bitcoin into their operations and learn about the “opportunity of productive Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott added.

Stacks Foundation pushing for a “progressive” regulatory environment worldwide

As the leading Bitcoin scalability solution, Stacks is also pushing for progressive global regulations that will cement Bitcoin’s role in the future of the financial landscape.

“We’re not just focused locally — our team is engaged in global conversations, advocating for frameworks that balance decentralization, security, innovation, and compliance surrounding the unlocking of Bitcoin capital,” Ellicott said.

A key part of the strategy involves knowledge sharing with local regulatory bodies to build understanding among government officials about Bitcoin’s characteristics and potential economic impact.

The foundation is also developing the Bitcoin Capital Activation Framework, described as a comprehensive policy blueprint to help regulators enable Bitcoin utility in their jurisdictions.

The Stacks Foundation will also launch the Bitcoin Policy Bridge in May, a working group uniting regulators from all key jurisdictions across the Middle East and Asia.

In February, ADGM signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to advance the development of distributed ledger technology.