Connect with us

Published

on

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.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘I got sectioned because of scandal’

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”.

More on Liberal Democrats

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.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘I knew I hadn’t stolen any money’

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.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Post Office tax claim is ‘unlawful’

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.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

They made ‘me look like a criminal’

‘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.”

Continue Reading

UK

Landlords ‘holding parliament hostage’ over threat of selling up – as peers urged to ‘rescue’ Renters Reform Bill

Published

on

By

Landlords 'holding parliament hostage' over threat of selling up - as peers urged to 'rescue' Renters Reform Bill

Landlords have been accused of “holding parliament hostage” with the threat of selling up to stop tenants’ rights from being strengthened.

A fresh row erupted on the eve of the controversial Renters Reform Bill coming to the House of Lords for its second reading, as one landlord group warned of a supply crisis in the private sector.

Analysis of government data by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) found that in the last six months of 2023, 45% of people in need of homeless prevention support said the reason was because the property owner planned to sell.

This was more than twice as much as the next most common reason, which was landlords planning to re-let the property.

Separately, data from Rightmove found that 50,000 rental properties are needed to bring the supply of rental homes back to pre-pandemic levels.

The NRLA said landlords need “confidence to stay in the market” and warned peers against attempting to strengthen the reform bill to give renters more rights, after it was watered down by MPs in the Commons.

They said the data comes in the wake of concerns being raised by campaign group Generation Rent, who have warned that landlords selling up is a leading cause of homelessness.

More from Politics

But Generation Rent accused the NRLA of “cynically” using their concerns “to hold parliament hostage to the idea that they will sell up over even the smallest strengthening of tenants’ rights”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

One million renters forced to move

Ben Twomey, Chief Executive of Generation Rent, said: “Long term, if landlords sell up it makes little difference to the housing market.

“Bricks and mortar do not sink into the ground, and the home could be bought by another landlord, a first-time buyer or even repurposed for social housing.

“There will always be some landlords wanting to sell, for example because they are retiring or because their mortgages have become too costly.”

‘Relocation relief required for renters’

Mr Twomey said the short-term issue is that “tenants have an appalling lack of protection when landlords choose to sell up”.

He called on ministers to incentivise homes being sold to existing tenants if they can afford to buy, or incentivise selling homes with sitting tenants so they can stay in the property if it changes ownership to a new landlord.

The campaign group also want landlords to be prevented from selling a property for two years after a tenancy has begun, and a relocation relief for renters evicted through no fault of their own so they don’t need to pay for the final two months rent while they look for a new home.

Why are landlords selling up?

The NRLA said there are various reasons for landlords selling up but the key issues are growing costs and uncertainty over the Renters Reform bill.

The legislation, intended to redress the power balance between renters and landlords, has been mired in delay and controversy with the government heavily criticised for diluting some of its flagship proposals, including the ban on no-fault evictions.

First promised by the Tories five years ago, the ban has been delayed indefinitely pending court reforms, in what has widely been seen as a concession to landlords.

Read More:
Almost one million renters given no-fault evictions since Tories promised to scrap them
More than 100 MPs earn over £10,000 a year as landlords

Peers urged to ‘rescue’ reform bill

The Renters Reform Coalition, which includes Generation Rent, has called on peers to “rescue this watered down bill”, saying it is a failure in its current form and “will preserve the central power imbalance at the root of why renting in England is in crisis”.

👉 Listen above then tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam’s wherever you get your podcasts 👈

The RCC want a package of reforms including the end of no-fault evictions, four months’ notice when they are evicted rather than two and limiting in-tenancy rent increases in line with inflation or wage growth.

As well as insecure tenancies, renters are facing soaring rents and poor conditions amid a wider housing crisis which at its heart is a problem of insufficient supply and spiralling affordability

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, acknowledged the wider problems and said that “all parties need to accept widespread calls for policies to boost supply in the private rented sector”.

He added: “Landlords selling up is the single biggest challenge renters face. The only answer is to ensure responsible landlords have the confidence to stay in the market and sustain tenancies.

“As peers debate the Renters (Reform) Bill, it is vital that it works for landlords as well as tenants. As it stands it would achieve this balance. We are calling on peers to support the Bill to give the sector certainty about the future.”

Continue Reading

UK

Teens buying knives illegally online as criminals ‘move with digital age’

Published

on

By

Teens buying knives illegally online as criminals 'move with digital age'

Underage teenagers buying knives online remains “a really concerning picture” for police, with illegal dealers selling weapons via social media.

The national lead for policing knife crime, Commander Stephen Clayman, said forces in England and Wales are keen to cut off the supply of weapons as part of efforts to stop injuries and deaths.

He said knives are being sold on TikTok, Snapchat and sites run by Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, while the Home Office revealed plans for knife detection technology and harsher punishments.

He told Sky News knife crime is “moving with the digital age” and said he is looking to retailers to take care over age verification.

Social media sites could also help by limiting harmful content, he added, and he is confident following talks with firms around ways technology can limit what teens are exposed to online.

“Knife crime is not the preserve solely of young people, but clearly we see, where young people are concerned, more proliferation, more public space violence, more use of these large intimidating weapons,” he said.

Some young people involved in criminality particularly favour what he calls “status knives”, more than a regular kitchen knife.

“It’s still a really concerning picture in terms of the accessibility of knives online,” he told journalists.

Official figures show knife crime rose by 7% in the year to December 2023.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

In the year to March 2023, 82% of teenage homicide victims were killed with a knife, compared to 73% in the previous year.

As part of plans to combat the rise, all police forces in England and Wales will ramp up action for a week this month and again in November as part of Operation Sceptre.

The Home Office announced on Tuesday a £3.5m package for research and development of new technologies to detect knives from a distance when a suspect passes through two points.

An additional £547,863 will also be given to the Metropolitan Police to fund four more live facial recognition camera vans.

Read more:
Swiss Army Knife maker’s new version without knife
Data shows knife crime on the rise

Laws around zombie knives, machetes and swords will be tightened up from September, giving police greater powers to seize weapons found in private properties.

It will be illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport zombie-style knives and machetes.

The maximum penalty for the possession of these and other banned weapons will also increase from six months to two years.

A surrender and compensation scheme is due to launch this summer.

Continue Reading

UK

Record 3.1 million food bank parcels handed out in a year, says charity

Published

on

By

Record 3.1 million food bank parcels handed out in a year, says charity

A record 3.1 million emergency food parcels have been handed out in just a year, according to a charity.

The Trussell Trust says 3,121,404 were distributed by its network of 1,300 food banks in the year to the end of March.

Some 1,144,096 were for children and nearly two million for adults. The total is nearly double that of five years ago.

Latest updates from the Sky News Money blog

The number of parcels given out during the 12 months to March 2023 was just under three million.

While the number of first-time users this year – 655,000 – is a slight drop, it’s still a rise of 40% compared with five years ago.

And the number of parcels given to someone of state pension age also increased by 27% to 179,000, according to the trust.

A foodbank in Leeds is among those seeing more demand from older people.

“Our volunteers are telling us that they are dealing with pensioners who can’t afford to put food on the table due to having to pay higher energy costs,” said Wendy Doyle, operations manager at Leeds South and East Foodbank.

Val McKie, who previously used food banks after she was left “couch-surfing and destitute” when her husband died and work dried up, said the rising need for food support is a “stain on our society”.

“I was overwhelmed with shame at the situation I was in,” said Ms McKie.

“I struggled for years before I found the courage and strength to ask for help, these feelings are shared by so many people who need the support of food banks.”

Image:
The number of parcels given out over the last 12 months is nearly double that of five years ago

The Trussell Trust wants politicians to back a “supportive social security system” for parents, carers and people with disabilities who face increased living costs.

Emma Revie, the trust’s chief executive, said the UK was facing “historically high levels of food bank need”.

“As a society, we cannot allow this to continue. We must not let food banks become the new norm,” she said.

“As we approach the next UK general election, we urgently need all political leaders to set out how they will build a future where no one needs a food bank to survive.”

Social change group the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) repeated calls for a protected minimum amount of financial support so people can afford the essentials.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Iain Porter, JRF senior policy adviser, said: “This is not what an economy returning to full health looks like.

“The latest record-breaking emergency food parcel figures show the painful economic reality facing families with the least.”

He said the issue was one that “no political party can ignore in this election year”.

Read more:
Military personnel turning to food banks
More than one in four universities operating food banks

Alison McGovern, Labour’s acting shadow work and pensions secretary, said the “dreadful” figures “lay bare the reality facing households across the country after 14 years of Tory misery”.

She said Labour would tackle the “root causes of poverty” – for example building more affordable housing and protecting renters, cutting school uniform costs and providing breakfast clubs in every primary school.

The government said its cost-of-living support package had prevented 1.3 million people falling into poverty in 2022-23.

It said it was also “raising the National Living Wage, cutting taxes and driving down inflation while investing billions through our Back to Work Plan”.

Continue Reading

Trending