Francesca Gillett
Reporting from the inquiry

So far it's been lots of scene-setting from McFadden - what his role was, what it was like being in the government department, how much he worked with the secretary of state.

McFadden emphasises that for the first 15 months in the job as postal affairs minister, the main issue was a plan to close 2,500 Post Office branches.

He seems to be answering questions clearly and with a generally helpful tone.

Peeling away from the inquiry for a moment, the new Labour government has just finished answering an urgent question about the Post Office scandal in Parliament.

Asked when the compensation scheme would be up and running, Business and Trade Minister Justin Madders said the government would make a statement on the issue by the end of this month.

"[We] intend to work cross-party, we believe that there's absolutely no reason why that should not continue," he told MPs.

"We absolutely agree with him... delivering fast and fair compensation is at the heart of all we are trying to achieve here."

Image source, Post Office inquiry

Pat McFadden, who was recently appointed to the new cabinet and was postal affairs minister from July 2007 to June 2009, has just started giving evidence to the inquiry.

We'll be bringing you the key lines from his evidence and further analysis - you can also follow along by clicking Watch live at the top of the page.

Francesca Gillett
Reporting from the inquiry

Silence fell as Pat McFadden entered the hearing room, just moments ago.

He's sometimes described as the most powerful Labour politician most people have never heard of.

A former adviser to Tony Blair, he more recently helped mastermind Keir Starmer’s victory in his role as Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator. But today all questions will be about his three-year stint as postal affairs minister.

Pat McFadden was meant to start giving evidence at 09:45, but we're still waiting for him to appear.

When the stream starts, you'll be able to see it by clicking Watch live at the top of the page.

Image source, PA Media

Pat McFadden has arrived at the inquiry and will be the first to give evidence today. We're expecting to hear from him at around 09:45 BST.

A reminder if you're just joining us now - McFadden was the minister in charge of postal affairs between July 2007 and June 2009.

He is now a cabinet minister in the new government - specifically the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster.

Francesca Gillett
Reporting from the inquiry

This week and next the inquiry will focus on what politicians knew, and when, during the Horizon scandal which unfolded between 1999 and 2015.

The Post Office is wholly owned by the government but maintains an arm's-length relationship when it comes to day-to-day operations.

A number of former ministers who had responsibility for the Post Office have faced questions about whether they could and should have done more.

As well as Ed Davey and Pat McFadden today, those giving evidence this week and next include Jo Swinson and Vince Cable of the Liberal Democrats and former Conservative ministers Margot James and Greg Clark.

Image source, BBC News

Many former sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses say the scandal ruined their lives.

Some used their own money to cover non-existent shortfalls because their contracts said they were responsible for unexplained losses.

Many faced bankruptcy or lost their livelihoods. Marriages broke down, and some families believe the stress led to serious health conditions, addiction and even premature death.

Sharon Brown – accused of false accounting by the Post Office and of taking £36,000 – told the BBC it turned her life upside down, and on top of the financial implications and damage to her professional life, it caused lasting rows in her own family.

Seema Misra was eight weeks pregnant with her second child when she was sentenced to 15 months in prison, and was sent to prison on the day of her eldest son's 10th birthday after being wrongly convicted of stealing £70,000 from her Post Office branch.

They are just two examples of the hundreds whose lives were forever changed by the scandal.

Francesca Gillett
Reporting from the inquiry

I’m here at Aldwych House in London, where the inquiry will today hear from its more prominent politicians yet.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey and Labour’s Pat McFadden, who now holds a government job in Keir Starmer’s cabinet, will both give evidence.

The inquiry is now looking at political oversight – meaning who knew what, and when – and both Davey and McFadden were junior ministers during the time of the Horizon scandal.

There's already a crowd of journalists and camera crews gathering outside - no surprise given the big names giving evidence today.

As we mentioned earlier, the inquiry is approaching its final phase - with most evidence in the current phase due to be heard by the end of July.

The inquiry learned this week that Fujitsu IT security analyst Andy Dunks gave witness statements in dozens of cases against Post Office sub-postmasters despite saying he had" limited" knowledge of how the Horizon system worked.

Earlier this month, former Post Office chair Tim Parker denied deliberately hiding a key report he commissioned into the Horizon IT system from members of the Post Office board.

And last month we heard from Gareth Jenkins - the computer expert who helped build the Horizon software.

• If you missed it, take a look back at our summary of his evidence here

Peter Ruddick
Business reporter

As the Post Office's sole shareholder, the government is ultimately responsible for the running of the organisation.

However, former ministers - including Sir Ed Davey and Pat McFadden - say they were advised not to question executives.

Why? Because the Post Office is what's called an "arms-length body".

That argument is likely to be vigorously tested today by lawyers. Why, for example, did McFadden tell a fellow MP in late 2009 that there was "nothing to indicate" problems with Horizon?

Especially given a Computer Weekly article had raised the alarm publicly by this stage.

Ed Davey has already apologised to sub-postmaster campaigner Alan Bates for refusing a May 2010 meeting (he did go on to meet him at a later stage).

Expect him to be asked if that refusal was actually because of the financial and reputational risk to the government of admitting Horizon issues.

Both men are fresh from the election campaign trail. Today could be just as gruelling.

From 1999 all the way through to 2023, here's a rundown of some of the key dates in the Post Office Horizon scandal.

• 1999: The Horizon accounting system is rolled out in Post Offices across the UK
• 2000: The first issue with the system is reported by Alan Bates, sub-postmaster of a branch in Wales
• 2003: Bates loses his job after refusing to accept responsibility for missing funds in the branch accounts
• 2004: More sub-postmasters find themselves being asked questions about missing funds - at times in the tens of thousands of pounds. Jobs are lost, some are declared bankruptcy and some eventually sent to prison
• 2010: A high-profile case of wrongful conviction occurs - pregnant Surrey sub-postmaster Seema Misra is jailed after being accused of stealing £74,000
• 2012: Formal investigations into the Horizon software begin
• 2015: The Post Office halts private prosecutions of sub-postmasters
• 2017 Legal action is launched against the Post Office by a group of 555 sub-postmasters
• 2019: The Post Office CEO Paula Vennells stands down, before the company agrees to pay £58m to the 555 sub-postmasters
• 2021: The first inquiry into the scandal begins
• 2023: The government announces that every wrongly convicted sub-postmaster will be offered £600,000 in compensation

Image source, EPA

An independent public statutory inquiry, it began in February 2021 with the aim of gathering a clear account of the failings of the Horizon IT system.

The faulty software was supplied to the Post Office by Fujitsu and introduced in 1999.

It was used for tasks like accounting and stocktaking. Within a year, sub-postmasters complained about bugs in the system after it falsely reported shortfalls – often for many thousands of pounds.

Between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters and mistresses after the Horizon system made it look like money was missing. There were more than 900 convictions linked to the scandal over 16 years.

The aim of the inquiry is to understand what went wrong, and what lessons can be learned.

There was renewed focus on the scandal following the release of the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey told the BBC earlier this year that he "probably should have said sorry earlier on" in relation to his role in the Post Office scandal.

Davey served as post office minister from 2010 to 2012, and has since apologised to victims.

He also addressed a delay in meeting Post Office campaigner Alan Bates.

Bates’ initial request for a meeting in May 2010 was rejected, but Davey did later meet him in October that year.

Davey has since said he regrets not meeting Bates sooner and specified that he took the campaigner’s concerns "very seriously".

• We’ve got further details on the story here

Image source, Jeff Overs/BBC

Pat McFadden was the minister in charge of postal affairs from July 2007 to June 2009.

The Horizon accounting system was first rolled out in 1999 - with the first issue reported by sub-postmaster Alan Bates in 2000.

Between 1999 and 2015 hundreds of sub-postmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office. McFadden, who was recently appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has previously spoken about the scandal on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

Asked whether he wished he asked more questions when he was a minister after the IT scandal emerged, he said: "Of course I do given what happened and the human tragedy of this was awful."

Marita Moloney
Live page editor

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the latest evidence from the Post Office inquiry.

Today we’ll hear from Labour's Pat McFadden, who’s now a member of the new cabinet, and the Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

They’ll be questioned about their role in the scandal when they were both Post Office ministers.

Between 1999 and 2013, hundreds of sub-postmasters were convicted based on evidence from the flawed computer system Horizon, in what has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

We’re in the penultimate phase of the inquiry, and will be bringing you live updates and analysis throughout the day. You can also follow along by clicking Watch live at the top of the page from 09:45 BST.