The government has agreed to have an independent IT expert review of a Post Office software system predating Horizon, amid claims dozens more sub-postmasters may have been wrongly convicted.
The Capture software was rolled out across branches in the 1990s, years before the notorious Horizon system was introduced.
Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake has met with a former sub-postmaster and a lawyer representing 35 people who believe they were wrongly accused of stealing.
It was agreed between MPs and the Post Office minister that an independent IT expert would assess evidence claiming to “prove” Capture software was prone to glitches.
Image: The Capture IT system
Steve Marston, 68, believes he was wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting after errors caused by Capture accounting software.
Auditors found shortfalls of £79,000 at his branch in Greater Manchester in 1998. He subsequently pleaded guilty to theft and false accounting.
A predecessor to Horizon, the Capture software was developed by the Post Office and rolled out from 1992.
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‘Extremely happy’
Mr Marston, representing numerous others claiming to be victims, met with Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake in Central London.
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Image: Postal services minister Kevin Hollinrake
He tearfully told Sky News after the meeting that he was “overwhelmed” and “extremely happy” with the way the meeting went.
He presented a copy of the original Capture software, also shown to Sky News, which Mr Marston describes as “definitive proof” of wrongful convictions.
Campaigners discovered floppy disks with the software on them, dating back to the 90s.
Mr Marston says they show that errors in the system could generate false shortfalls in accounts, and believes Capture evidence was used in his prosecution.
Image: Steve Marston
A ‘significant meeting’
Neil Hudgell, who is representing 35 former sub-postmasters who used Capture, said it was a “significant meeting” with the Post Office minister.
“What we are going to do now, with the consent of the government and agreement of the Department for Business and Trade,” he said, “is run that past an independent person to stand up what we say is the case.
“It is a very similar pattern of IT glitches that predate the Horizon system by a number of years.”
Former sub-postmasters say that it appears errors occurred when upgrades were made to the software in the 90s.
Other factors such as power cuts are also thought to be another possible reason for faults.
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Steve Lewis lost his job in 2000, after raising concerns about shortfalls and Capture software glitches.
“I’ve always been looked on as being the man who robbed the post office,” he said. “I lost my post office, the commercial buildings that I had moved my office to, and was forced to sell my family home.”
Mr Lewis claims he was warned “not to be a troublemaker” and told the issues were only happening to him.
It wasn’t until he watched the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office that he “realised” similarities between Horizon victims and himself such as “unexplained losses”.
Image: Alan Bates (centre) speaking outside the High Court in 2019 and Toby Jones as Alan Bates in the ITV series
‘Mirror image of what Post Office did with Horizon’
Documents seen by Sky News also show that the Post Office knew Capture was prone to glitches which could cause accounting issues.
In January the government ordered the Post Office to investigate the claims related to Capture.
Labour MP Kevan Jones has taken up the cause and describes one case as being “a mirror image” of what “the Post Office did with Horizon victims”.
He continued: “Added to that, we’ve now got the original computer floppy disks where I think it proves that it does throw up shortfalls.
“I think that’s quite a compelling case for these cases to be looked at again and compensation awarded.”
‘We continue to investigate’
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are in contact with Steve Marston and other past users of Capture and are grateful to them for all the information they have so far shared with us.
“We continue to actively investigate a number of lines of inquiry relating to Capture and throughout this we have regularly kept the Department for Business and Trade and Kevan Jones MP up to date with our findings.
“We have now shared a recommendation with the Department about what should happen next and hope to provide further information with past users of Capture as soon as we’re able to.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “As soon as these accusations came to light, we asked the Post Office to investigate the Capture system.
“We are now reviewing all the materials provided to us, including those from postmasters and Post Office, and we will set out next steps shortly.”
Donald Trump has revealed a list of more nations set to face delayed ‘liberation day’ tariffs from 1 August.
He has threatened tariffs of 30% on Algeria, 25% on Brunei, 30% on Iraq, 30% on Libya, 25% on Moldova and 20% on the Philippines. Sri Lanka was later told it faced a 30% duty.
Letters setting out the planned rates – and warning against retaliation – are being sent to the leaders of each country.
They were the latest to be informed of the president‘s plans after Japan and South Korea were among the first 14 nations to be told of the rates they must pay on their general exports to the US from 1 August.
The duties are on top of sectoral tariffs, covering areas such as steel and cars, already in place.
Mr Trump further warned, on Tuesday, that a 50% tariff rate on all copper imports to the US was looming.
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He has also threatened a 200% rate on pharmaceuticals and is also expected to take aim at all imports of semiconductors too.
The European Union, America’s largest trading partner in combined trade, services and investment, is expected to get a letter within the next 48 hours unless further progress is made in continuing talks.
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The bloc, which Mr Trump has previously claimed was created to “screw” the US, has been in negotiations with US officials for weeks and working to agree a UK-style truce by the end of the month.
The EU has retaliatory tariffs ready to deploy from 14 July but it is widely expected to delay them until such time that any heightened US duties are imposed.
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It remains hopeful of a deal in the coming days but European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament: “We stick to our principles, we defend our interests, we continue to work in good faith, and we get ready for all scenarios.”
While the UK’s so-called deal with Mr Trump is now in force, it remains unclear whether steelmakers will have to pay a 50% tariff rate, deployed by the US against the rest of the world, as some final details on an exemption are yet to be worked out.
The value of its shares has risen by 409,825% since its market debut in 1999.
Its status has been cemented thanks to the rush for AI technology – suffering several wobbles along the way – but nothing significant when you refer to the percentage rise of the past 26 years.
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The most recent pressures have come from the emergence of the low-cost chatbot DeepSeek and concerns for global AI demand as a result of Donald Trump’s trade war hitting growth.
Financial markets have been taking a more risk-on approach to the trade war since the delays to “liberation day” tariffs in April.
It’s explained by a market trend that’s become known as the TACO trade: Trump always chickens out.
Image: The milestone is reported by Sky’s US partner CNBC, seen on screens at the New York Stock Exchange. Pic: Reuters
It has helped US stock markets post new record highs in recent days.
The wave of optimism is down to the fact that the president is yet to follow through with the worst of his threatened tariffs on trading partners.
Corporations are also yet to report big hits to their earnings – a fact that is also propping up demand for shares.
If Mr Trump does go all-out in his trade war, as he has now threatened from 1 August, then that $4trn market value for Nvidia – and wider stock markets – could be short-lived, at least in the short term.
But market analysts believe Nvidia’s value has further to go.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said of its meteoric rise: “Once known for powering video games, NVIDIA has transformed into a foundational player in AI infrastructure.
“Its high-performance chips now drive everything from natural language processing to robotics, making them essential to training and deploying advanced AI models.
“Beyond hardware, its full-stack ecosystem – including software platforms and developer tools – helps companies scale AI quickly and efficiently. This end-to-end approach has positioned Nvidia as a cornerstone in a market where speed, scalability, and efficiency are critical.”
He added: “The key question is where it goes from here, and while it might seem strange for a company that’s just passed the $4trn mark, Nvidia still looks attractive.
“Growth is expected to slow, and it’s likely to lose some market share as competition and custom solutions ramp up. But trading at a relatively modest 32 times expected earnings, and over 50% top-line growth forecast this year, there’s still an attractive opportunity ahead.
“For investors, it remains a compelling way to gain exposure to the AI boom – not just as a participant, but as one of its architects.”
The future of the UK economy is weaker and more uncertain due to President Trump’s tariffs and conflict in the Middle East, the Bank of England has said.
“The outlook for UK growth over the coming year is a little weaker and more uncertain,” the central bank said in its biannual health check of the UK’s financial system.
Economic and financial risks have increased since the last report was published in November, as global unpredictability continued after the announcement of country-specific tariffs on 2 April, the Bank’s Financial Stability Report said.
These risks and uncertainty, as well as geopolitical tensions, like the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, are “particularly relevant” to UK financial stability as an open economy with a large financial sector, it said.
Pressures on government borrowing costs are “still elevated” amid significant doubts over the global economic outlook.
Had a 90-day pause on tariffs not been announced, conditions could have worsened, the report added.
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The chance of prices rising overall has also grown as tensions between Iran and Israel and the US threaten to push up energy prices.
Possible higher inflation in turn raises the prospect of more expensive borrowing from higher interest rates to bring down those price rises. This compounds the pressure on state borrowing costs.
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Mortgages
Borrowing costs for about 40% of mortgage holders are set to become costlier over the next three years as households refix to more expensive deals, affecting 3.6 million households, the Bank said.
Many homes have not refixed their mortgage since interest rates began to rise in 2021, meaning the full impact of higher rates has yet to filter through.
Those looking to get on the property ladder got a boost as the Bank said lenders could issue more loans deemed to be risky, meaning people could be able to borrow more.
Financial institutions can now have 15% of their new mortgages deemed risky every year, up from the current 9.7%.
Riskier mortgages are those with a loan value above 4.5 times the borrower’s income.
Be ‘prepared for shocks’
Despite the global and domestic economy concerns, the outlook for UK household and business resilience remained “strong”, the Bank said.
Investors, however, were warned that there could be “sharp falls in risky asset prices”, which include shares and currencies.
If there are any vulnerabilities in non-bank lenders, it “could amplify such moves, potentially affecting the availability and cost of credit in the UK”.
“It is important that in their risk management, market participants [people involved in investing] are prepared for such shocks.”
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The steep market reaction following the tariff announcements in April “highlights that the interconnectedness of global financial markets can mean stress from one market can move quickly to others,” the report said.
Overall, though, “household and corporate borrowers remain resilient”, the Bank concluded.