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The UK Post Office Horizon Public Inquiry resumes today almost four years after it began.

Public and political interest in the industrial-scale miscarriage of justice suffered by sub-postmasters was transformed by a television drama.

Since 2020 retired judge Sir Wyn Williams has been probing the circumstances that led the Post Office to prosecute more than 900 sub-postmasters for theft, fraud and false accounting caused not by dishonesty, but errors in the Horizon software it required them to use, since 2020.

This necessarily painstaking process has been conducted in public throughout, with dozens of evidence sessions aired live on YouTube, with transcription and hundreds of documents available in full online.

Follow the latest stage of the public inquiry live on Sky News and at news.sky.com from 10am today

Only since Christmas, and the airing of ITV’s Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which measured this long and complex scandal by the human cost to those wrongly convicted, has it gained traction in Westminster and the media.

The penultimate phase of the inquiry will begin, fittingly, with a full day of evidence from the eponymous hero of that drama Alan Bates, the indefatigable sub-postmaster who led a group litigation against the Post Office in 2017.

His evidence will set the context for appearances by senior executives of the Post Office and Fujitsu, which built the Horizon software, and politicians who took key decisions during more than a decade of malfunction and alleged manipulation of the system.

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Post Office told Fujitsu to change sub-postmasters’ accounts, leaked recordings suggest

Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells will face questions for three days in May, and former Royal Mail Group chief executive Adam Crozier will appear at the end of this week.

Politicians including Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and Labour campaign director Pat McFadden will also be in the chair to answer for their actions as Post Office ministers.

A key question for all of them will be what they knew of the problems with the Horizon system and when.

In 2019, the group litigation led the High Court to rule that the software contained “bugs, errors and defects” that could have caused the shortfalls on which the Post Office based its convictions.

The evidence that Post Office officials knew their system and therefore their prosecutions were flawed has mounted even since the ITV drama.

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Post Office scandal explained

A 2017 report by Deloitte, published by the inquiry last month, found examples of branch balances being changed remotely to order, something the Post Office had long insisted could not be done.

Last week, Sky News revealed audio recordings of phone calls between independent investigators and Post Office executives in 2013, in which allegations of remote tempering of branch accounts by their Fujitsu counterparts were discussed.

Ms Vennells and her former colleagues will also have to answer for their role in directing the Post Office to continue prosecutions even after being alerted to these flaws, and to commit millions in legal costs to try and outspend sub-postmasters who fought back.

On Ms Vennell’s watch, the Post Office settled the group litigation for £58m, of which £47m was swallowed in legal costs, leaving 555 sub-postmasters, some of whom were wrongly jailed, to share just £11m, less than £20,000 each.

Sir Wyn Williams has committed to producing recommendations as soon as possible after the inquiry concludes in September, but the drama has already prompted the government to address some of the biggest issues.

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‘We’ve got to get money out to the victims’

Legislation has been tabled that will at a stroke exonerate all prosecuted sub-postmasters who meet certain conditions, a move that has disturbed some in the judiciary and ministers admit carries the risk of clearing those guilty of crimes.

The aim is to make all sub-postmasters eligible for compensation, which requires convictions to have been overturned, but even that process is mired in controversy.

There are three separate schemes, all run by the Post Office.

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A parliamentary select committee in February heard evidence from lawyers for the victims that they are slow, overly bureaucratic and could even now take up to two years to deliver financial redress.

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That same hearing also exposed chronic dysfunction among the current Post Office management, with chief executive Nick Read revealed to be under investigation for alleged bullying of a former HR director, and allegations of a smear campaign against the former chairman Henry Staunton.

There is more than enough material in this sorry, squalid corporate scandal for a made-for-TV sequel.

Alan Bates and his peers will settle for redress and real world recriminations, including potential criminal prosecutions, for those responsible.

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Burberry checks out contenders to replace Murphy as chairman

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Burberry checks out contenders to replace Murphy as chairman

Burberry is kicking off a formal search for a new chairman nearly a year after installing the latest in a string of chief executives charged with reviving the luxury fashion brand.

Sky News understands that Burberry is working with headhunters on a hunt for Gerry Murphy’s successor.

Mr Murphy, who also chairs Tesco, is not expected to step down this year, although the precise timing has yet to be formally determined, according to insiders.

Last summer, Sky News reported that Burberry had commenced a search for a non-executive director capable of taking over from Mr Murphy in due course.

That mandate is now said to have evolved into a more straightforward hunt for a new chair, sources suggested.

Planning for his departure comes as Burberry and other luxury goods manufacturers grapple with the uncertainty of swingeing tariffs amid an escalating international trade war.

The company is now being run by Joshua Schulman, the former Jimmy Choo boss, who was drafted in last July to arrest its decline.

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Mr Schulman replaced Jonathan Akeroyd, who left in the wake of a string of profit warnings.

Shares in Burberry closed on Tuesday at 738.8p, giving it a market value of about £2.6bn.

The stock is down by more than a third over the last year.

A spokesperson for Burberry said: “In the normal course of business, we look at succession planning for board roles as they reach term.”

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Food inflation highest in almost a year – more to come, industry warns

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Food inflation highest in almost a year - more to come, industry warns

Food inflation has hit its highest level in almost a year and could continue to go up, according to an industry body.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported a 2.6% annual lift in food costs during April – the highest level since May last year and up from a 2.4% rate the previous month.

The body said there was a clear risk of further increases ahead due to rising costs, with the sector facing £7bn of tax increases this year due to the budget last October.

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It warned that shoppers risked paying a higher price – but separate industry figures suggested any immediate blows were being cushioned by the effects of a continuing supermarket price war.

Kantar Worldpanel, which tracks trends and prices, said spending on promotions reached its highest level this year at almost 30% of total sales over the four weeks to 20 April.

It said that price cuts, mainly through loyalty cards, helped people to make the most of the Easter holiday with almost 20% of items sold at respective market leaders Tesco and Sainsbury’s on a price match.

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Its measure of wider grocery inflation rose to 3.8%, however.

Wider BRC data showed overall shop price inflation at -0.1% over the 12 months to April, with discounting largely responsible for weaker non-food goods.

But its chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said retailers were “unable to absorb” the surge in costs they were facing.

“The days of shop price deflation look numbered,” she said, as food inflation rose to its highest in 11 months, and non-food deflation eased significantly.

“Everyday essentials including bread, meat, and fish, all increased prices on the month. This comes in the same month retailers face a mountain of new employment costs in the form of higher employer National Insurance Contributions and increased NLW [national living wage],” she added.

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Five hacks to beat rising bills

While retail sales growth has proved somewhat resilient this year, it is believed big rises to household bills in April – from things like inflation-busting water, energy and council tax bills – will bite and continue to keep a lid on major purchases.

Also pressing on both consumer and business sentiment is Donald Trump’s trade war – threatening further costs and hits to economic growth ahead.

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A further BRC survey, also published on Tuesday, showed more than half of human resources directors expect to reduce hiring due to the government’s planned Employment Rights Bill.

The bill, which proposes protections for millions of workers including guaranteed minimum hours, greater hurdles for sacking new staff and increased sick pay, is currently being debated in parliament.

The BRC said one of the biggest concerns was that guaranteed minimum hours rules would hit part-time roles.

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Inside the Vietnamese factory preparing for the worst since Trump’s tariff threat

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Inside the Vietnamese factory preparing for the worst since Trump's tariff threat

On the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, factory workers at Dony Garment have been working overtime for weeks.

Ever since Donald Trump announced a whopping 46% trade tariff on Vietnam, they’ve been preparing for the worst.

They’re rushing through orders to clients in three separate states in America.

Sewing machines buzz with the sound of frantic efforts to do whatever they can before Mr Trump’s big decision day. He may have put his “Liberation Day” tariffs on pause for 90 days, but no one in this factory is taking anything for granted.

Staff have been working overtime
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Staff have been working overtime

Workers like Do Thi Anh are feeling the pressure.

“I have two children to raise. If the tariffs are too high, the US will buy fewer things. I’ll earn less money and I won’t be able to support my children either. Luckily here our boss has a good vision,” she tells me.

Do Thi Anh
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Do Thi Anh

That vision was crafted back in 2021. When COVID struck, they started to look at diversifying their market.

Previously they used to export 40% of their garments to America. Now it’s closer to 20%.

The cheery-looking owner of the firm, Pham Quang Anh, tells me with a resilient smile: “We see it as dangerous to depend on one or two markets. So, we had to lose profit and spend on marketing for other markets.”

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You asked, we listened, the Trump 100 podcast is continuing every weekday at 6am

That foresight could pay off in the months to come. But others are in a far more vulnerable state.

Some of Mr Pham’s colleagues in the industry export all their garments to America. If the 46% tariff is enforced, it could destroy their businesses.

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Doubts US will start making what Vietnam delivers

Down by the Saigon River, young couples watch on as sunset falls between the glimmering skyscrapers that stand as a testament to Vietnam’s miracle growth.

Cuong works in finance
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Cuong works in finance

Cuong, an affluent-looking man who works in finance, questions the logic and likelihood that America will start making what Vietnam has spent years developing the labour, skills and supply chains to reliably deliver.

“The United States’ GDP is so high. It’s the largest in the world right now. What’s the point in trying to get jobs from developing countries like Vietnam and other Asian nations? It’s unnecessary,” he tells me.

But the Trump administration claims China is using Vietnam to illegally circumvent tariffs, putting “Made in Vietnam” labels on Chinese products.

There’s no easy way to assess that claim. But market watchers believe Vietnam does need to signal its willingness to crack down on so-called “trans-shipments” if it wants to cut a deal with Washington.

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Vietnam can’t afford to alienate China

The US may also demand a major cutback in Chinese manufacturing in Vietnam.

That will be a much harder deal to strike. Vietnam can’t afford to alienate its big brother.

Luke Treloar, head of strategy at KPMG in Vietnam
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Luke Treloar, head of strategy at KPMG in Vietnam

Luke Treloar, head of strategy at KPMG in Vietnam, is however cautiously optimistic.

“If Vietnam goes into these trade talks saying we will be a reliable manufacturer of the core products you need and the core products America wants to sell, the outcome could be good,” he says.

But the key question is just how much influence China will have on Vietnamese negotiators.

Anything above 10-20% tariffs would be intensively challenging

This moment is a huge test of Vietnam’s resilience.

Anything like 46% tariffs would be ruinous. Analysts say 10-20% would be survivable. Anything above, intensely challenging.

But this looming threat is also an opportunity for Vietnam to negotiate and grow. Not, though, without some very testing concessions.

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