Ed Davey confronted at Post Office Inquiry over refusal to meet with Alan Bates
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2024
- Former postal affairs minister and current Lib Dem leader Ed Dagvey gave evidence to the Post Office inquiry.
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What a weasel,, he simply couldn't be bothered... that's the truth
Absolutely could not be bothered
Having previously worked for a Minister, I cannot believe what I am hearing. When drafting a reply for a Minister, the original correspondence would have accompanied it. I left Govt long before this scandal and worked in another Department. My Minister always took very seriously what they were being asked to sign. This whole episode is shameless beyond belief.
He decided eventually to meet with Alan Bates not because of Sir Alan’s second powerful letter but because he got wind that Channel 4 were going to run a piece on the JFSA. This guy is a real piece of work!
Yep that's a fact
He's a very very slimy clown. These politicians blame their memory and others, rather than their actions or inaction. He should resign, the same as he has called on others to go for their mistakes.
Accept he did then go on the see Alan...
Don't be ridiculous. He was lied to by Post Office executives. He believed them. He now realises that he was wrong to do so and he's admitted it and apologised. He also did subsequently meet Alan Bates.
@@bob1234881 eh?
Clowns are straight forward tumbling honest people that bring joy & happiness into peoples lives, SUR Davy is a self seeking two faced
- both facing different directions - politician ... !!!
@@bob1234881 Que?
Whats hilarious is once he'd proved his incompetence as PO Minister, he accepted a 'consultancy' position with the law firm prosecuting the Sub Postmasters paying him 250k.
He should be held in contempt for the way he treated the Sub Postmasters, he cannot remember this or that??? WHY! the hell is he still in parliament, apologies will not bring back the poor souls who took their lives, imprisoned, humiliated all due to his negligence. We may as well have the Office Clerks running the departments and reduce costs.
Ed Davey appears to believe no injustice is so great it cannot be ignored, what a man to elect as a peoples' representative. How far in wrecking lives is an organisation allowed to go before the Government should step in?
In other words, as ministers you are not responsible for anything, then what good are you.
Politicians think "apologising" makes everything alright. I wish it had worked with my speeding ticket!!!
don't speed?
It doesn't, but sometimes it is all we can do.
"Do you know you were speeding?"
"I'm sorry officer. I can't remember."
@@NotWhoYouThinkTheyAre Yeah I wish you'd been in the room with the post office executives "Maybe don't prosecute & imprison innocent people?".
He a slimy lying creep
This is pathetic. Post office personnel were desperate to seek attention to being effectively bullied at work , and hence with no adequate response from Thenthe perpetrators of the behaviour are in need of investigation.He DIDNT know things because he never attempted to find out anything. That was his job and he failed to even pretend to do it properly.
He had a meeting with Bates later, did he not? If I'm not mistaken he was the first person in his position to do so after years of requests
@@Tom-pn3zh If I may, as I mentioned above, whoever read the erudite Sir Allen's first compelling letter, and chose to issue that reply, should be personally ashamed. Reading between the spin, Davey reluctantly agreed to a meeting, which was used by his department as a fishing mission, and was not a "lightbulb moment" for him. The Misra trial went ahead shortly after, without any attempt by Govt. to put the brakes on what Bates revealed to be poor grounds for criminal convictions. The separation of powers argument just doesn't cut it.
This man is as bent as a Nine Bob note☝️
Should call him WAVEY DAVEY what a FOOL
sir wavey davey or you tube might find some one to feel offended for not giving him the correct title he deserves.
Sir Alan's second letter was blistering.
A knighthood, a knighthood, my service deserves a knighthood.
He didn’t write it or read it obviously just signed it without reviewing it at all.
The post office investigator who didn’t know about papers she signed was rightly ridiculed with it suggested that she just signed a paper written by others…….the same should apply Ed….he wants to blame his Civil servants, the post office, praps that he had the wrong glasses? He SIGNED IT, he like everyone should never sign anything they have not read and understood…and if you do, you have to accept responsibility for what happens thereafter
He signed it because he trusted its author to a great extent. Who is the author and who is that author influencing today?
@@BarMagnet yes, I agree it is a worry . It was always thought that the civil servants were, unbiased, but how unbiased was Sir Humphrey…my feeling is that the subsequent opprobrium of that blind faith is not even handed
Sometimes you wonder if some politicians even know what they were actually elected for?
Because money and power. And privilege. And employ wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/kids at public expence. And.........
Self enrichment,is the main reason.
None of these people have got any memory , so surely they shouldn’t have been employed or in government , we need people that know what they are doing and have morals.
The highly paid and highly educated assistants didn’t read the judgement of the case vs Hamilton, didn’t read the letter from Sir Alan. It is shocking.
Why did Davey not appear here before the general election how did he manage that. As he manage to increase his parties MP'S sickening.
This creep needs a thorough looking into, how did he get his knighthood!☝️
No fan of ED but he was always down to appear at enquiry 18th July - it just so happened election was 4th July - he had no control
over that
His date was set long before the snap election
How do these people get these jobs!?
Not on merit,apparently.
When are they going to ask "where's all the money the innocent postmasters and postmistresses gave you??"
Why would any Lib Dem vote for this apologist
Lib Dem voters have no interest in politics or being in power. If they did they would not vote this baffoon as leader.
I wish I knew why. I cant remember.....................
Virtue
Because they are all neo liberals at hart same horse different jockeys different colour jerseys .
Sadly a few have in 🏴 fuck knows why they brought in austerity with the tories, and worked against 🏴 in the referendum the traitors.
So I apologise, so I apologise, so I apologise, what a load of rubbish here we go again another one passing the buck. SHOCKING
Yet someone else who thought it was beneath them to meet a mere sub postmaster.
Can we put MP's in jail?
Yes, we've had MPs elected from Jail afterall, however there is likely nothing to jail Ed on.
For what crime here?
the meaning of "public service" obviously escaped Mr Davey re Alan Bates and the whole Post Office fiasco...
I can barely look at this MP Ed Davey , when called upon to do his job he badly let down people that were desperately in need for him to engage with their issues regarding the very business that he had overall responsibility for on behalf of the Government ie: the public , he was lazy & had far more important things to do
And yet did a far better job than his Labour predecessors in being the first to actually do a meeting.
@@xander1052 Labour were being advised by New Burger and Grab Her.
An apology isn’t good enough, his judgement is flawed, if you are in a position of high office and responsible for serious actions YOU check everything, clearly he didn’t, he should take his own advice and resign, how can he possibly justify being the leader of a major political party.
He seems to have signed a helluva lot of letters without knowing what he was signing, an absolute clown
At least he didn't say, he was on holiday at the time.....
As a very green junior minister, Sir Humphrey packed my red box with so much correspondence that there was never any time for sleep. Then he told me a brilliant way to save time and get more sleep: all I had to do was simply to sign the replies that he and his team had drafted for me: no need to bother with the inconvenience of reading boring incoming correspondence, from ne’er-do-wells and nuisances like Alan Bates.
Q
It’s amazing that your reputation, integrity, is so disregarded, by signing at will.
put Davey in a jail cell until he remembers......
WOW, another apology, I'm sorry, it is not my fault, no one told me, .........and on it goes.
Poor man. He has a very bad memory.
This man is incompetent, arrogant and appears to suffer from selective Amnesia.
How can a person like this be a Sir?
Pat McFadden was precious little better!
Both not fit for ministerial office
@@stephenholmes1036 👌👏
He is lying
About what?
His actions (inaction).
Horrible man - has spent most of his time as an MP and leader of LD’s consistently seeking the scalps of numerous senior public figures stating they should resign following errors and scandals - yet back pedals when he finds himself in the same position denying liability and blaming others.
Davey's statements carry the ring of truth and genuine engagement. He's not given credit for taking the second letter seriously and doing the first government meeting, after previous government ministers turned Bates down for years.
It's certainly more accountable than most Tory responses it is funny how he is getting grilled for being one of the more useful politicians in the scandal in that he at least did something even if later than when youd want.
Grow up, he's in it for himself!!!
@@user-rt2ri5ft5vAll politicians are the same….yawn. 😂😂
You clearly didn't see the advice that he had been given as to why he should agree to meet Bates.
@@user-rt2ri5ft5v the sad part is, your vote is worth the same as someone who actually bothers
I didn’t have much room for letters in my red box, I had my sandwich’s yogurt and chocolate buttons in there and my bib.
We don't care when it happened, we care what happened and when.
"We don't care when it happened, we care what happened and when."
read that again
This Minister has admitted to routinely signing letters without knowing the background and without advice in writing. He just went through his "red box" and signed what was put in front of him.
Davy did virtually nothing during his time as Post Office Minister to pursue what the hell was going on at the Post Office. His refusal to meet Alan Bates was not only rude and reprehensible but showed a lack of moral character. He was in this regard too lazy in case it compromised his ministerial position. It reveals Davy deliberately distancing himself from the issues which beset the Post Office, and his desire not to be proactive to investigate the serious problems which were affecting the sub post masters. Throughout his time as minister, he seems to have been guilty of total inertia and shrugging his shoulders in indifference, knowing that large numbers of sub masters were being prosecuted. Davy was guilty of dereliction of duty despite the fact he was accepting a hefty ministerial salary. Davy massively failed to do his job. Shocking.
Every time these useless rogues say,
“It was a long time ago”,
I think,
“Yes it was. Thanks to you lot shifting responsibility and telling as little truth as you could!”
And he wanted to be Prime Minister, sheer arrogance
Davies full of crap i don't believe after all he said during the election he should seriously look at himself and consider his position as an MP
That was a pretty mind blowing admission: Either (i) "I didn't read the letter but signed an off-hand, if not down-right rude reply without knowing the context," or (ii) "I did read the letter and chose to endorse a reply that backed the Post Office unconditionally. In any event, he decided to treat the matter as a 'contractual' one rather than a problem of justice and law, involving one of real live people, probably including his own constituents, whom he saw as totally unimportant. I hope he has changed since then, because it certainly indicates someone who is capricious, or careless, or callous, or all three.
No. That's how all senior politicians work. They have so much to deal with, they rely on civil servants to do all the preparation for them and they just sign everything off.
And Governments (of all political colours) have regarded the Post office as an "arms length" company. They own it and supervise its function, terms and conditions, but do not get involved in its day to day operations.
Evidence? I have worked with MPs for many many years, and worked with government more widely, and never has one simply signed a letter without knowing whatvthey are signing. It's not good practice.
If government does not get involved in POL affairs, then what's the point of having a Minister for Postal Affairs? It's the very epitome of a sinecure: paid to do nothing. By that definition, I regard Sir Ed as supremely well qualified.
@@RGP_Maths The Government set the parameters by which the Post Office operates: what tasks it is expected to carry out and it sets performance objectives. It also scrutinises how it performs in meeting those objectives. It also provides investment funding and subsidy when required. What the Government does NOT do (and which was made clear to Ed Davey by his civil servants) is to get involved in the day-to-day internal running of the Post Office.
@@RGP_Maths "what's the point of having a Minister for Postal Affairs?"
To monitor the performance of the Post Office. But not to run it. That's the job of the CEO. If you don't understand how the system works, don't comment.
He was completely focused on his political career.
Raid his bank balance and give it to these poor people who have been treated in the most disgusting way by people like ed davey
So he can remember the second letter but not the first, what a load of bullshit, bang to rights and not interested in the problem at all !!!
He really is a creepy person with all these people they blame everybody else and have memories they should never be ministers if they cannot remember what they do in their jobs.
Politicians like Davey suddenly develop selective amnesia when it suits them.
If Vennells lied to him as he claims then prove it by showing the Post Office Inquire the evidence that she did.
I am not going to accept it on Davey's say-so.
He’s guilty of what he did or didn’t stop then and should be JAILED now .
The real measure of the man!
I do find it somewhat convenient that this part of the enquiry was past election.
The inquiry has no control over election timing.
People knew davey was implicated in this scandal, so this shouldn’t be a shock to anyone
@@Osindileyo I know. I'm talking in uber tin foil hat mode. 😅
there are actual rules set up on what can and cannot be done on the pre-election period, him providing evidence would have most probably been delayed till after the election as it is political and could impact the election.
You do realise this enquiry has been going on for nearly four years!
seems deliberate.. " I cant remember " seems his stock phrase.
It seems to me that all our politicians have dreadful memories and are bad with the operationing of model phones
Lock him up........dreadful dereliction of his duty. Should be banned from holding any public office. Saving his own skin.
Aaaaaaahhhhhhh - I can't remember... Another slime bag
What Davey fails to remember is Mr.Beer KC already knows the answers and truths before he asks his questions, and when Davey squirms to avoid being caught out lying Mr.Beer KC will just be more forensic to expose Davey's deceipt, ..
Davey thought he was in for a good day out at the inquiry, he just underestimated he would be going in to the lions den with the Grandmaster Mr.Beer KC & his "overlord" Sir Wyn Williams !!
davey is so obviously a liar
Surely this can't be actual in this country.
Can I get out of a contractual commitment using this Davey Method? I sign many documents too so surely that'd be OK.... wouldn't it?????
Davey was representative of a government of amateurs, in a clique and class where professionalism was (and is) ridiculed as "technocratic", "boffin-like" or similar.
Elected representatives will not necessarily be educated to a very high level (an often woefully in basic maths, statistics and the sciences), but here: we're not asking for PhDs, but ground level management skills.
This amateurism had tragic consequences for individuals and their families, not only in this scandal, but the Covid catastrophe: its own ongoing inquiry is already showing up this same deadly trait.
"I was just following orders!" Why does that sound so familiar?
"been a long time". He's waited long enough and knew when he was required at the hearing, I'd have thought he would have refreshed his memory, or just maybe he has taken advice??
Ed Davey comes off as an incompetent liar whose professional approach was to only do things that were in line with his party's signature selfishness and greed.
They get so much money and don"t even write their own letters or dictate them.
Ed Davey an MP also a SIR SHAME ON HIM Lib Dem leader
What is the point of government ministers, if they just rubber stamp responses written by functionaries, to matters of such importance, that is likely to engulf the "Shareholder". He's just pleading ignorance and distancing himself from involvement. Sorry Ed but the buck tops with you. Who runs the country?
Cant remember, cant recall, cant remember. Is he becoming demented.???
Can you remember everything you did at work fourteen years ago?
No, he was born like that, It makes him a very talented politician 😁
be sure to take notes everyone😂@@amoswittenbergsmusings
He needs to Resign
Probably too busy brainstorming future publicity stunts to meet with working peopel in crisis
I wonder if he forgets how to spell his first name ED😂
This is honestly pretty believable, It was his first days on the job and he's trying to remeber events from a very busy time in his life 15 years later.
Did anyone notice how he tried to downplay his initial refusal to meet Sir Alan by repeating more than once that he DID eventually meet with him in the October? The only reason for that October meeting is that Sir Alan would not leave it at that, and persisted. No thanks to the minister. And why did it take 3 months to finally meet him? I'm afraid I'm so sick of these apologists. Moaning that he was misled/lied to by civil servants and PO. Davey never bothered going straight to the victims to get their side of the story and, hence, the truth.
Davey is an A/H plain and simple but he’s NOT ALONE
He should have been asked "what changes if any did you make for ALL internal communications after this debacle, when known?
What he really means is he couldn't be bothered. Another public servant who is not interested in serving the public, only himself. And as they all seem to do, he blames others.
How do these people accept thier tiles.
How terrible, I said Government was probably involved. Off to prison with you
Kept at arms lengh to run business how they like ...why do I get the feeling that's what minister's will say when water companies have hearing like this 😂😂😂
Unlike Vennels with her litany of "I don't recall that" I'm inclined to give Ed Davey the benefit of the doubt.
Just better media training
Are you mad?
I watched this live and he used the old, "I don't recall, but I'm sure if I had seen this I would have acted on it..." line every bit as much as Vennels et al. The ministers etc keep using the excuse that they just believe what they were told and had no evidence to the contrary. But they clam up or dance around the question when it's put to them that they took the word of the Post Office and completely ignored the word of the SPMs, journalists, fellow MPs etc.
Davey said several times he believed totally what POL was telling him. The flip side of that is he believed the SPMs were all thieves and liars. I would urge people not to draw party lines over this, they were all as bad as each other in their willful ignorance
He blamed EVERYTHING on his staff, and didn't remember anything he couldn't.
@@roygavin8219 Why is everyone so surprised? It was just Mr Patel of the corner shop. Who cares? Ed Davey could do with Mr Patel's vote...
This enquiry should have been held before the election, then we could have seen what a slimy individual he is. Lib Dems would never have got so many seats.
He’d look good with tar and feathers.
ASTONISHING! By his own admission, as a Minister, he served his time simply signing replies created by his staff, to questions he claims he hadn't even seen or heard.
On the one occasion he did agree to meet Bates, having, miraculously, seen a letter from him, he responded to the meeting with the same whitewash, and no thought that anything was wrong.
So, he rubber-stamped a letter written by an erudite individual, telling a story that any normal person would find compelling and worthy of serious follow-up, not a dismissive reply from "officials". A lamentable reflection on the individuals and the way Govt. works. Davey's attempts to suggest that he later took the initiative with Sir Allen, rather than eventually agreeing to a meeting, show him to be a rather poor spin doctor who does not deserve any kind of title. Well, I can think of one or two...
Rubber stamped a reply that is...
Someone else who has conveniently developed Alzheimers. If he was Post Office Minister with, presumably some responsibility for the Post Office and which presumably would reflect in his government remuneration, why was it policy to keep the Post Office at "arm's length"?
just another crook
Pathetic, no other words required
It is impossible for any minister to recall every detail of everything that happens in a department covering many issues when civil servants are supposed to be doing the leg work (correctly, not so on this case) for them in many different areas. Davey dropped a right clanger missing this blatant farce. The same cannot be said for Paula Vennells. She was paid over half a million quid (plus bonuses) annually for, apparently, not knowing what was going on in just one business she was directly in charge of. Didn't remember. Wasn't told. Not me. I don't recall. I'm sorry (lol). Or, lying that she didn't know. I'm going to pretend to cry now. Vennells and her POL apparatchiks led everyone a merry dance defending the indefensible Horizon system out of pure self-interest whilst innocent people were jailed, misleading ministers along the way. It is the POL management who are guilty of this horrendous miscarriage of justice. The inquiry has found that out for sure.
He was taking money from the post office lawers what do you expect.
Another utter shit.
following advice of officials yet his signature is only one on the letter, i hope his knighthood is taken
these mps get 90k per annum and most are corrupt.
Another liar. Off to Prison. 😅
I detest him
Well at least that was something from him. Hopefully he pushes for reform and rebuild of our postal infrastructure in light of this inquiry.
Davy screwed up at the start of his tenure because he believed a bunch of liars at the Government owned company.
But give him credit for being appalled for accepting blame and promising to use all his powers to ensure justice is eventually done. (Under questioning by core members legal teams.) Let’s hope he is good as his word.
Again hiding behind other people.
Just been admonished for a comment..not the damage caused to peoples lives
Why is Alan Bates in the description a picture of Toby Jones instead of Alan Bates? Yes, I know Toby Jones played him.