Cachella Smith
Reporting from the Post Office inquiry

The inquiry has moved to what happened ahead of the Second Sight interim report.

Swinson's witness statement refers to a meeting with Vennells and Perkins, where she was told about the impending release of the report.

She doesn't recall the exact date, but says it was most likely June 2013.

Her statement describes the "genesis" of the meeting as "slightly mysterious" and says the tone of Vennells and Perkins was "quiet and serious" but they were keen to reassure her they were taking it seriously.

Swinson tells the inquiry she wasn't clear about the purpose at the meeting until she was in it - when it became clear it was a "serious" issue.

Cachella Smith
Reporting from the Post Office inquiry

The inquiry is continuing to go through various bits of correspondence.

Jo Swinson reflects on the process by which ministers deal with correspondence, with the "normal process" being that a minister scans and then signs a letter.

This process was also brought up at the inquiry yesterday.

She points out that early on in her position, she was "unhappy" with the standard of the correspondence she was receiving - citing typos.

She says that was "actually very stressful" and she "escalated" it.

Zoe Conway
Employment correspondent, reporting from the Post Office inquiry

The language is telling.

A "minuscule" proportion, a "trickle" of cases.

This is how officials within the Business department were describing the problems with Horizon in briefings to Jo Swinson in 2012.

Despite the fact that the Post Office had commissioned the forensic accountants to conduct a review in to how Horizon was working, officials were constantly playing down the concerns being voiced by both campaigners and MPs.

They were basing these briefings on what the Post Office was telling them.

Jo Swinson says that in the early days of her job as Postal Affairs Minister, the significance of the issue "did not sink in for me".

Former postal affairs minister Jo Swinson says she "did not ask many questions" about the nature of the government's role as shareholder of the Post Office.

The former Liberal Democrat leader was in the post between 2012 and 2015.

In her witness statement, Swinson says it was "always made clear" to her "that it was not for me as minister to interfere with operational matters" at the Post Office.

She adds: "I did not ask many questions at the time about the precise nature and limits of the government's role as shareholder and the extent to which I could get involved in Post Office governance.

"I wish with hindsight that I had asked more questions or intervened more."

The inquiry turns to a briefing for Jo Swinson on her first meeting with former Post Office chair Alice Perkins and former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells.

Swinson doesn't recall who wrote the briefing and reflects that the meeting took place around the second week in her job.

Julian Blake notes the document does not reference any issues with Horizon.

She was asked if she was briefed on issues with the Horizon IT system in the earlier days of her role and replied saying “no, not in a sit-down briefing”.

Swinson is also asked if she was aware that the Post Office prosecuted people and responds saying she doesn’t believe she was aware at that point.

Cachella Smith
Reporting from the Post Office inquiry

So far, Julian Blake has been going through Swinson's background.

He has also just confirmed with her that "parliamentary accountability" was part of her role as the relevant minister.

She adds that the Post Office is accountable to "its shareholder, which is the government" and has a wider accountability, as a public institution.

Image source, PA Media

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats has started giving evidence to the Post Office inquiry.

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Image source, PA Media

In case you missed it, here's a quick recap of the key moments from the inquiry yesterday, which saw former Post Office ministers Pat McFadden and Ed Davey face questions about the scandal.

• Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said he was "lied to" about "serious flaws" in the Horizon IT system
• He also apologised to campaigner Alan Bates for initially refusing to meet him while serving as postal affairs minister in 2010
• He insisted that the decision to meet Bates in October 2010 was his own
• Davey added he would have "acted differently" if the "Post Office had told the truth"
• McFadden, now a Labour cabinet minister, emphasised the separation between Post Office Limited and the government
• McFadden, who held the same job from 2007-2009, said politicians were "very reliant" on others telling them the truth as they made decisions about Horizon IT failures
• He added that he had trusted Post Office assertions that its Horizon system was robust, with "terrible consequences" for sub-postmasters

Zoe Conway
Employment correspondent, reporting from the Post Office inquiry

Jo Swinson, who was leader of the Liberal Democrats for five months in 2019, was postal affairs minister between 2012 and 2013 and again from 2014 to 2015.

While she was in office, forensic accountants Second Sight produced an interim report into the Post Office’s Horizon computer system. It found that software glitches had led to incorrect balances in multiple Post Office branches.

The Post Office said the 2013 report showed its computer system was "effective" while Jo Swinson told Parliament: "Contrary to misleading media reports, the review explicitly confirms that 'we have so far found no evidence of system-wide problems with the Horizon software'."

She says she was misled by the Post Office.

Dame Moya Greene was chief executive of Royal Mail Group from 2010-2018. Royal Mail was privatised and split from the Post Office in 2012, which was headed by Paula Vennells.

The two women worked closely together.

In January, following the ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’, Moya Greene texted Paula Vennells "I can’t support you now" and "I think you knew".