Vatican says gay blessings can only last 15 seconds

1 SECOND MORE AND ITS HERESY

Nick Squires

Fri, 5 January 2024 

The blessings would ask 'the Lord for peace, health and other good things' for the couple - JOE GIDDENS/PA

The Vatican has tried to calm a backlash over its decision to allow priests to bless gay couples – specifying that such gestures should last no more than 15 seconds and do not legitimise homosexual relationships.

Last month, the Holy See released a declaration in which it allowed priests to bless same-sex couples under certain circumstances, as part of the more liberal stance towards gay Catholics which has been adopted by Pope Francis since his election in 2013.

But the announcement prompted anger in many parts of the Catholic world, with particularly trenchant opposition coming from countries in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

Some conservative bishops feared that the declaration represented a significant softening of the Catholic Church’s positions on gay marriage and homosexuality, in which homosexuality is seen as a disorder and homosexual acts are regarded as a sin.

A more liberal stance to gay Catholics has been adopted by Pope Francis - Joe Giddens/PA

In an apparent attempt to appease conservative critics, the Vatican has now sought to clarify its original declaration, insisting that it is “clear and definitive about marriage and sexuality”.

The blessing of a gay couple should be a simple procedure lasting just a few seconds and should in no way be confused with the marriage ceremony for heterosexual couples, the Vatican said.

“To be clearly distinguished from liturgical or ritualised blessings, ‘pastoral blessings’ must above all be very short. These are blessings lasting a few seconds…” the Vatican’s doctrinal office said in a five-page statement. “We are talking about something that lasts about 10 or 15 seconds.”

The blessings would “simply ask the Lord for peace, health and other good things for the two people who request it”.

It insisted that allowing priests to bless gay couples was not “heretical”, nor did it contravene the traditions of the Catholic Church.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the department responsible for overseeing Catholic dogma, admitted that in some countries, for priests to openly bless gay couples might be “imprudent”, inviting persecution, prison or even death threats for the people involved.

“If there are laws that condemn the mere act of declaring oneself as a homosexual with prison and in some cases with torture and even death, it goes without saying that a blessing would be imprudent,” the Vatican said.

To appease critics, the Holy See has sought to clarify its position on gay blessings - ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Priests should exercise “pastoral prudence” depending on attitudes towards homosexuality within their countries.

Gay people in Africa and elsewhere continue to face extreme prejudice and persecution. Homosexuality is prohibited in more than 30 countries on the continent. The president of Burundi recently said that gay people should be stoned.

There has been fierce opposition to the blessing of gay couples in nations such as Zambia, Nigeria and Malawi.

The Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, said last month: “The ambiguity of the declaration, which lends itself to numerous interpretations and manipulations, is causing much perplexity among the faithful.”

In Uruguay, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, the archbishop of Montevideo, said the blessing of gay couples was “a controversial issue and it’s creating divisions within the Church”.

In Kazakhstan, an archbishop prohibited the new blessing, saying that it contradicts the 2,000-year-old “doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church”.

The Vatican’s clarification, issued on Thursday, came less than three weeks after the original declaration was released, highlighting the consternation it had caused in many parts of the Catholic world.

The blessing of gay couples should not be seen as “a justification of all their actions, and they are not an endorsement of the life that they lead”, the doctrinal office said.

Why fears over a ‘tripledemic’ are surging

Cases of three major respiratory viruses — the flu, COVID-19 and RSV — are surging in the U.S., pushing the country toward a feared “tripledemic” during its first post-pandemic respiratory viral season.

Joseph Choi

THE HILL
Sun, 7 January 2024 


Optimism was high this autumn as the U.S. headed into the viral season. The national arsenal against these viruses had vaccines against RSV for the first time, newly updated COVID-19 vaccines, and the flu “immunity debt” that plagued children in 2022 was history.

But now, confidence is waning. Accessing the vaccine for RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, has been a struggle for many, and enthusiasm for the new COVID-19 vaccines turned out to be abysmal. COVID-19 hospital admissions have been rising since November and wastewater detection indicates most sites — 69 percent — are seeing large increases in virus levels.

Flu activity across the country is currently “elevated and continues to increase in most parts of the country,” according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And vaccine uptake for the flu seems to be lagging, with the CDC saying nearly 8 million fewer people got the shot by mid-December compared to the same period in 2022.

During the first couple of years of the pandemic, flu activity remained low, attributed to the precautionary measures that communities took to mitigate the viral spread of COVID. The 2022-23 flu season appeared to mark a return to normal flu levels.

Only about a fifth of U.S. adults say they’ve received the newest COVID-19 shot, according to polling from KFF. Uptake for the previous bivalent shots was similarly low and many Americans likely haven’t been immunized since receiving their first doses in 2020 or 2021.

“We’re definitely seeing an increase in the number of flu cases, COVID-19. They’re both surging right now,” said Luis Ostrosky, chief of infectious diseases and epidemiology with UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann.

Speaking on the RSV cases he’s seen in the Houston area, Ostrosky said infections appeared to surge earlier in December, though he is still seeing a “steady” number.

“This is so alarming that it prompted CDC to send out a health alert towards the end of December reminding all clinicians to really work on getting patients vaccinated and, when they have symptoms, tested so that they can access therapy if they need it,” Ostrosky noted.

Available RSV data from the CDC does seem to suggest test positivity peaked toward the end of November, with the positivity rates for antigen and PCR tests just beginning to drop in recent weeks.

Hopes were high that the approval of two RSV vaccines for seniors and a preventive monoclonal antibody for infants would help keep cases low this season.

But Sanofi, the maker of the monoclonal antibody Beyfortus, said in October that “unprecedented demand” had led to short supply, leading the CDC to advise doctors to reserve doses for their highest-risk patients.

And RSV vaccine uptake among seniors appears rather lackluster, with CDC data suggesting only about 10 percent of nursing home residents had gotten immunized against the virus by mid-December.

“The numbers are not looking good,” said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, of the three circulating viruses.

“I think when we get some new numbers for the last week, it’s going to be sort of continued trends in the same direction and increased activity across all of those conditions,” added Plescia.

A holiday “bump” in cases is to be expected following weeks of year-end travel. AAA estimated in December that more than 115 million people in the U.S. would be traveling 50 miles or more from home during the festivities.

Amid all the travel, Plescia lamented that social norms which he hoped became commonplace following the pandemic appeared to have been largely abandoned.

“I think we’re kind of going back to, you know, the old approach of people don’t stay home when they’re sick,” said Plescia. “And they think it’s sort of a minor thing and the thought that they might infect somebody else just doesn’t really occur to them.”

Masking has also become rare once again, though Plescia noted many hospital systems are bringing back mask requirements amid the rise in respiratory viruses. These hospital-enacted requirements may be more easily accepted by communities than those issued by the government, and Plescia expects to see more like them in the future.

While cases are rising, Plescia said his organization hasn’t yet heard of any health systems around the country being unduly stressed by the respiratory viral situation.

“That is sort of the first concern with some kind of ‘tripledemic’ is that we would have so many people getting sick that hospitals would become overwhelmed either because they didn’t have enough beds or they didn’t have enough staff to care for that number of people. We’re not hearing that we’re approaching that, but that is the thing that we’re most concerned about,” he said.

Ostrosky is optimistic case rates will begin to go down soon after a potential holiday bump, with past winter peaks indicating a drop sometime in early January. He emphasized it is still worthwhile to get tested if you experience symptoms because there is now a plethora of therapeutics available for treating these infections.

Going forward, Plescia also recommended that more focus be placed on vaccinations among health care workers.

“That’s important not just because we don’t want health care workers to get sick and give it to their patients but also, you know, when you have a lot of health care workers getting sick, this whole capacity thing becomes problematic,” Plescia said.

“Because what we’re hearing now is that hospitals are less concerned about not having enough beds. They’re more concerned about having enough health care workers to staff those beds.”

Court hands partial victory to First Nations who say they weren't properly consulted over Yukon mine project


CBC
Fri, 5 January 2024 

BMC Minerals' Kudz Ze Kayah mine project, about 260 kilometres northwest of Watson Lake, Yukon, on Kaska traditional territory. The federal and territorial government's 2022 approval of the proposed mine has been set aside until another consultation meeting can be held with First Nations. (BMC Minerals - image credit)

A Yukon judge has handed a partial victory to First Nations who said they weren't adequately consulted over a proposed mine project in Kaska territory in southeast Yukon.

But the court also found that the federal and territorial governments largely met their duty to consult throughout the environmental assessment process.

In a ruling this week, Yukon Supreme Court Chief Justice Suzanne Duncan found that the Crown "worked hard to engage First Nations in the consultation process" before approving the Kudz Ze Kayah mine in southeast Yukon, while the First Nations often worked to "frustrate and unjustifiably prolong" the consultation process.


At the same time, Duncan found that the Crown failed to give proper attention to a final written submission from the First Nations, and she's ordered the government's approval of the mine be set aside until a final consultation meeting can happen this winter.

The court's decision follows a six-day hearing last spring. The Ross River Dena Council filed a court petition on behalf of Kaska Nation in 2022 seeking a judicial review of how the decision bodies — Natural Resources Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the territorial executive council office — signed off on the Kudz Ze Kayah mine project after an environmental and socio-economic assessment, allowing it to move to the regulatory phase.

The First Nation argued that the consultation process for the proposed mine in southeast Yukon was unfair and inadequate, as the Crown allegedly listened to Kaska concerns but failed to meaningfully address and incorporate them.

The Kudz Ze Kayah project is about 260 kilometres northwest of Watson Lake, Yukon, on Kaska traditional territory.

U.K.-based BMC Minerals submitted its proposal in 2017 to build the open pit and underground copper, lead and zinc mine. The proposal would see the company mine approximately 180,000 tonnes of zinc, 60,000 tonnes of copper and 35,000 tonnes of lead concentrates annually for 10 years.

In her Jan. 2 ruling, Yukon Supreme Court Chief Justice Suzanne Duncan found that the Crown demonstrated "patience and persistence" in attempting to engage with Kaska throughout most of the consultation process.

"The Crown is not to be held to a standard of perfection in fulfilling its duty to consult and accommodate," Duncan wrote.

"What is required is reasonableness. In this case, I have found the Crown acted reasonably in all respects but one."

Duncan ruled that the Crown failed to give reasonable consideration to the First Nation's 48-page statement of their position and concerns, which was submitted on June 14, 2022. The government's final decision on the proposed mine was issued less than 24 hours later, on June 15, 2022.

"Despite the late timing of this submission, it deserved a more substantive response through a dialogue, rather than through references in the Decision Document to issues that had been raised previously," Duncan wrote.

"The basis for issuing the Decision Document the day after the receipt of the June 14, 2022 submission was not transparent, intelligible, or justified. It did not meet the honour of the Crown."

Duncan ordered that the government's decision on the mine should be set aside to allow for a consultation meeting about the First Nation's June 14, 2022 submission. The meeting must happen within 60 days, and be scheduled for one to two days, as required.

That consultation meeting should focus solely on the June 14, 2022 submission from the First Nation, with no further submissions or documents exchanged between the parties. A decision by the Crown should be then be issued within 30 days of the meeting, Duncan ruled.

Dead letter office? Royal Mail wrestles with a difficult future

Alex Lawson

GUARDIAN
Sat, 6 January 2024 

Photograph: Royal Mail/PA

If Martin Seidenberg has had any honeymoon period as the new boss of Royal Mail’s parent company, it will end this week. He must respond by Tuesday to a series of testy questions from Liam Byrne MP, the chair of the parliamentary business and trade committee, on Royal Mail’s staff turn­over, poor service and disputed parcels policy.

This is the latest tussle in the troubled history of the 507-year-old company – seen by some as a venerable institution and by others as a corporate conundrum – which faces a huge challenge to reinvent itself amid stiff competition.

More than a dozen current and former employees and directors who have spoken to the Observer describe an organisation in flux, wrestling with questions over unions and regulators, workplace culture, changing consumer habits and a decline in letter volumes.
Change at the top


A tumultuous few years for the group have been reflected in the pace of arrivals and departures in the boardroom.

Royal Mail is the largest but most problematic part of International Distributions Services (IDS), the recently rebranded group which also contains General Logistics Systems (GLS) and Parcelforce. GLS is the profitable international arm, delivering parcels in 40 countries, mainly in Europe and North America.

Seidenberg, who runs IDS, will be keen to draw a line under a rocky period which has included a flurry of chief executives, damaging strike action over pay and conditions, a corporate rebrand, threats of administration, a £67m ransom demand after a cyber-attack, and a £5.6m fine from the regulator for failing to hit delivery targets. He even tried to address the latter by offering bonuses of up to £500 for postal workers to hit Christmas targets, as he hired 16,000 seasonal temps. (This target was split, with £250 of it linked to national targets which were missed.)

The departure of former Ocado executive Simon Thompson last year left Royal Mail hunting for its fourth boss in four years. Chided as “clueless” by MPs, mocked by the children of his workers and chanted about by thousands of angry postal staff in Westminster, Thompson was the latest chief to leave what may be the most impossible job on the FTSE, after two years at the helm.

He announced his resignation in May but officially remained with the company until October. He is due a payoff of up to £700,000. Despite the lingering goodbye, Seidenberg – formerly head of Amsterdam-based GLS – said he did not meet Thompson after taking charge in August.

Thompson’s predecessor, Rico Back, later said Thompson’s lack of experience in running either a big company or a logistics business had been a “toxic mixture”. Back himself abruptly resigned after less than two years, following a tussle with the Communication Workers Union. He was nicknamed the “flying postman” for running the business from his £2.3m family home overlooking Lake Zurich.

Seidenberg said he was taking “full ownership of Royal Mail on an interim basis as we just can’t wait [around]”. It is understood headhunters at Russell Reynolds have been tasked with finding a permanent chief executive, while pressure is mounting on the chair, Keith Williams, to ensure the next boss is the right one. “Keith hired Rico and that went badly; Simon too. His judgment has to be questioned,” says one former director.
Growing losses

The scale of Seidenberg’s task was laid bare in his City debut. Group revenues were flat, at £5.8bn, in the first half of its financial year, while profits in GLS were more than offset by a 46% increase in losses at Royal Mail, to £319m, according to results published in November.

Group operating losses widened to £169m, from a £57m loss in the same period a year earlier, and Seidenberg vowed to get a “grip” on quality of service, to set “the foundation for growth”.Interactive

Competition to land lucrative parcel contracts remains stiff even as a pandemic-fuelled boom subsides. This was underlined in November, when the Post Office signed deals with rivals Evri and DPD to allow them to deliver some parcels sent from its branches, amid concerns over reliability of the service. Royal Mail was legally separated from the Post Office – the state-owned private company that operates 11,500 branches, and which has been embroiled in the Horizon IT scandal – in 2012, before the former’s flotation. The November contract ended Royal Mail’s 360-year-old monopoly on the service.

Meanwhile, e-commerce parcel volumes fell across the sector in 2023, the drop blamed partly on fashion retailers clamping down on returns and partly on rising delivery charges. At Royal Mail, volumes were down in the first half of the year, before recovering some ground.
Delivery difficulties

Royal Mail’s long-term future will be significantly shaped by the postal and communications regulator, Ofcom. In September, it began examining options to alter the universal service obligation (USO) – the stipulation that Royal Mail has to deliver to every address in Great Britain six days a week, at a fixed price.

Royal Mail has blamed the USO for rising stamp prices and last summer the government denied its request to stop delivering post on Saturdays – a move which would have needed approval by MPs. Ofcom has previously said the move could save £125m to £225m a year.

The shape of any reforms to the USO have been debated for years. Before the pandemic, consultants at McKinsey were enlisted by Royal Mail to aid this work, coming up with no fewer than 23 models. Their research found dropping Saturdays would require minimal change within the organisation, an insider says.

The biggest indicator of the long-term strategy may come from Royal Mail’s recent moves with its bulk mail customers. These companies, which include UKMail, Whistl and Citipost, specialise in sorting and processing mail for big businesses – typically marketing letters or household bills to consumers. These bulk letters, which are taken on the “final mile” by Royal Mail, make up the majority of all letters sent, though volumes here are also in decline as companies favour email or social media to reach customers.Interactive

Under most bulk mail contracts, Royal Mail is required to deliver the next day and, as with consumer mail, the quality of service has fallen behind targets. However, since 2020, bulk customers have been also able to select a slower, three-day delivery option. Sources believe this cutting back on business mail could offer a blueprint for reducing consumer deliveries.

Ofcom has conducted analysis on how cutting back on delivery days would affect households, with particular emphasis on the implications for vulnerable mail users.

Sources familiar with Ofcom’s work say analysis presented in the autumn had found that 97% of residential customers and small to medium-sized businesses would suffer “minimal” impact from a switch to a Monday-to-Friday schedule, with publishers of magazines likely to be the most affected among bulk customers.

The research also showed that about 80% of residential users and between 60% and 80% of small businesses would be served adequately by a three-day-a-week service, or alternate-day deliveries.

“People think this is about going from six days to five but it’s more about going from five days to three,” says a former employee who has examined the options. “Saturday is a red herring: they need something more radical.”

However, cutting the frequency of bulk deliveries may not significantly reduce costs. Although this work is not regulated under the USO, it is reliant on the same network of postal workers, making the two services hard to disentangle.

The source adds that to cut costs significantly using the alternate-days plan, thousands of jobs would need to be cut, with posties then tasked with walking two different routes on alternate days. “The main issue may be that its small parcels business is entirely reliant on its letters network, so if you cut back on deliveries, you have to put small packages in vans, which is less efficient,” the source says.

Ofcom was expected to give an update on its work on the shape of the future of the postal service in December, but has delayed this to later in January.

“The need for reform is urgent. The UK is getting left behind – most comparable countries have already reformed their universal service,” says a Royal Mail spokesperson.

In a separate move, it is understood that B2B International, a market research company, recently carried out a work on behalf of Royal Mail’s direct mail arm, MarketReach. The study asked large business customers for their views on delivery frequency, including reducing schedules.

Meanwhile, some posties will start their working day up to 90 minutes later from April as part of a cost-cutting drive.
Cultural problems

Royal Mail’s historical strategy of offering lucrative overtime to get deliveries done appears to be encountering problems – the number of rounds (or walks) done by posties on overtime has fallen sharply since the pandemic.

“Older workers don’t want to do the walks, but the business model assumes a certain amount of overtime,” says a source. “The problem is the workforce is skewed older and they don’t necessarily want to take the overtime. If posties are delivering fewer letters over greater distances, it may not appeal physically.”

Another longstanding problem appears to be workplace culture. Several sources claim managers show favouritism, giving certain colleagues the best rounds, and allege that problems with bullying remain. The issue of bullying has also been raised in the past by several bosses, including Thompson.

Christopher Davies, who lives in Essex, resigned in 2022 after 32 years with the business, following seven months signed off with stress related to bullying. He claims Royal Mail had a “disgusting culture of bullying which runs through the organisation”.

Davies accuses his managers of bullying him when he returned to work after the death of his infant grandson in 2019. “It’s shocking how I was treated, and bullying happens right across Royal Mail,” the former postman says. “Managers bullied the staff and gave the best shifts and the overtime to their mates.”

Royal Mail says it has a “zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment, or discrimination of any kind”.

Also, long-running tensions have resurfaced over whether there has been a push to prioritise delivering more lucrative parcels over letters. Last year, MPs received photographs and recordings of local managers giving instructions to prioritise parcels, but Ofcom later said it “did not identify any suggestion that Royal Mail’s senior management had directed the prioritisation of parcels over letters”.

A union source says: “That was a red rag to a bull for the workforce – they know it’s the case.”

Royal Mail says it may be “logistically necessary to clear parcels first” to make space in delivery offices, but that Ofcom had not found “any suggestion” that senior management were instructing packages be prioritised “outside of recognised contingency plans”.
Activist investors

Royal Mail’s attempts to change under private ownership are comparable to struggles at BT and British Gas, both privatised under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s. At each company, successive bosses have demanded rapid change of their huge workforces in evolving markets, while grappling with ageing infrastructure. But while Thatcher eschewed privatising Royal Mail – even the Iron Lady was “not prepared to have the Queen’s head privatised”, she said – it was listed in 2013 amid a cloud of controversy.

Fleet-footed and less hamstrung rivals have spurred its modernisation efforts, such as introducing barcoded stamps to aid tracking, using drones to deliver to islands, offering Sunday parcel deliveries, installing Amazon-style collection lockers and opening “super hubs” for parcel processing in Cheshire and Northamptonshire. The company says it is making “good progress” in implementing changes to working hours and attendance policies that were agreed to end the strikes.

A notable uncertainty in the background is the intentions of Daniel Křetínský, the billionaire who first invested in 2020 and is now IDS’s largest shareholder. The tycoon, nicknamed the Czech Sphinx for his poker-faced approach to investment, faced a national security investigation last year when his firm, Vesa, raised its stake. No action was taken.

Křetínský’s investment initially did well, bringing in a share of a £400m dividend in 2021 as the pandemic boosted deliveries. But the shares have since more than halved in value, to 270p. Shareholders have, however, been promised a “modest dividend”, paid from GLS profits, this year.

It was initially suggested that Křetínský would push for a breakup of the group – an idea later mooted by the company itself in a threat to the union – but Křetínský has since said this is not his intention. He declined to comment for this article.

Royal Mail could also be caught in political turbulence this year, if Labour wins a general election.

“I would like as much parliamentary scrutiny as possible for the new management,” says Kate Osborne, the Labour MP for Jarrow, who worked at Royal Mail for 25 years before entering Parliament. She campaigned against privatisation and would like to see Royal Mail renationalised. However, she says Labour’s frontbench has not stated its desire to see this happen.

“There is still an ‘us and them’ culture at Royal Mail between the workers or middle management and the leaders,” Osborne says. “They still get their big bonuses when Royal Mail fall foul of their targets but those lower down do not get their bonuses. The shareholders keep getting their dividends.”

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UPDATED

Police investigate Royal Post Office over potential fraud offences after wrongful prosecution of subpostmasters


Sky News
Updated Sat, 6 January 2024 

The Metropolitan Police is investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences after the wrongful prosecution of subpostmasters.

The police confirmed on Friday that it is looking into the handling of the Horizon IT scandal - "such as the monies recovered from subpostmasters as a result of prosecutions or civil actions".

Detectives are also separately looking into "potential offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice" in an investigation that was launched in January 2020.

Two people have been interviewed under caution, but nobody has been arrested.

Read more: The true story behind drama on Horizon IT scandal

Former subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were held liable by the Post Office for financial discrepancies thrown up by its computerised accounting system Horizon.

Faulty Fujitsu software made it appear as though money was missing from their outlets.

The Post Office's pursuit led to more than 700 prosecutions, criminal convictions and, in some cases, prison sentences.

Many of those pursued were told to plead guilty to crimes or face jail, according to lawyers who have represented dozens of those impacted.

They were forced to pay the Post Office money it claimed had gone missing, which meant many lost their jobs, homes and life savings.

It has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, and a public inquiry into it is ongoing.

Read more:
Explainer: What is the Post Office scandal?

Post Office 'massively contributed' to subpostmaster death - widow

Victims of Post Office Horizon scandal offered £600k compensation

More than half a million people have signed an online petition calling for the former Post Office boss to have her CBE taken away over the scandal.

Paula Vennells later said she was "truly sorry" for the "suffering" caused to subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of offences.

After ITV aired a drama into the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office starring actor Toby Jones, 50 new potential victims have approached lawyers, it has been said

Post Office scandal: Petition to strip Paula Vennells of CBE signed by 600,000 people

Sky News
Updated Sat, 6 January 2024

In this article:
Paula Vennells
British businesswoman and Anglican priest


More than half a million people have signed a petition calling for the former Post Office boss to have her CBE taken away over the Horizon scandal.

Paula Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system.

Demands for her honour to be removed have reemerged after ITV aired a new drama into the scandal, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which tells how former subpostmasters and subpostmistresses were held liable by the Post Office for financial discrepancies thrown up by its computerised accounting system.

Police investigate Post Office over potential fraud offences

Their pursuit led to more than 700 prosecutions, criminal convictions and, in some cases, prison sentences.

A public inquiry into the scandal is ongoing.

Ms Vennells later said she was "truly sorry" for the "suffering" caused to sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted of offences.

From 1,000 signatures to 350,000 in days

The ITV show has led to a surge of sympathy for the victims of the scandal and a rapid rise in the number of people signing the online petition, which was set up in 2021.

On Monday, when the first part was aired, it had about 1,000 signatures. By the time the final episode was broadcast on Thursday, the total had leapt past 350,000. So far, more than 600,000 people have signed it.

38 Degrees, the campaign group behind the petition, said that "many signatories [were] saying they'd been inspired to join the call by watching the drama," which "brought the long-running scandal to the attention of millions of people".

Robin Priestley, the group's campaigns director, said in a statement: "Paula Vennells keeping her CBE while many victims of the Horizon Scandal are still waiting for justice flies in the face of the fairer country we all want to see.

"The huge surge of public support for this campaign in the aftermath of Mr Bates vs the Post Office makes that very clear."

Read more:
The true story behind the drama on Horizon IT scandal

What is the Post Office scandal?

The prime minister on Thursday declined to say whether she should lose her honour.

"There's an independent process for honours forfeiture, which is done by an independent committee, so that's a separate process from government," Rishi Sunak said.

"But, more generally, my job is to make sure that we're putting in place the compensation schemes and all those people who were awfully treated, suffered an appalling miscarriage of justice, get the justice that they deserve, and that's what we're delivering."

Sir Keir Starmer told ITV News: "Whether she [Ms Vennells] hands back her award is really a matter for her.

"But I do think there's a more important point in many senses here, compensation for these victims is overdue."

Ed Davey must be held to account for ‘wicked’ ministerial decisions about Post Office, says victim

Hayley Dixon
Sun, 7 January 2024 

In this article:
Ed Davey
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, MP for Kingston and Surbiton

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has tried to distance himself from the Horizon scandal - Andrew Matthews

Sir Ed Davey must be held to account for “wicked” Post Office decisions, a victim of the scandal has said.

The Lib Dem leader has tried to distance himself from the Horizon scandal, claiming he was “deeply misled” while serving as the postal affairs minister between 2010 and 2012.

But those falsely accused of wrongdoing are demanding that he is subject to a full interrogation over what he knew and when.
Ministerial decisions ‘wicked’

Ex-postmistress Sally Stringer has said that the root of the scandal “goes back to ministerial decisions” some of which were “wicked”.

In what has been described as one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history, more than 700 postmasters were prosecuted after faulty accounting software, called Horizon, made it appear money was missing from their stores.

Events surrounding the scandal are back in the spotlight following an ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which was screened last week.

It has since emerged that Sir Ed and other ministers were repeatedly warned about the accounting problems and issues with the software.

ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has brought the events back into the spotlight - ITV press centre

Campaigner Alan Bates ended up cutting contact with Sir Ed after he said in response to numerous complaints in 2010 that he had checked with the Post Office and it “continues to express full confidence in the integrity and robustness of the Horizon system”.

In a letter seen by the Sunday Times, Mr Bates responded in 2011 saying: “Having nailed your colours to the POL’s [Post Office Ltd] mast from the [Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance] standpoint there was little point in continuing a dialogue with you or your department at that point.”
‘Bitterly regrets’

A spokesman for Sir Ed has said that he “bitterly regrets” that the Post Office was not honest with him and “in hindsight” he wishes that he could have done more.

However, Mrs Stringer, who ran a post office in Beckford, Gloucs, for 20 years and faced audits, accusations and demands for repayment of money that was supposedly missing, believes that the responsibility for the scandal lies at the door of the Government.

“ I think the problems with Post Office Limited goes back to ministerial decisions taken during the coalition government of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives formed in 2010,” she said.

“The ministerial decisions range from incompetent to wicked.”
‘Interrogate’ Sir Ed

She has asked the ongoing public inquiry to “interrogate” Sir Ed as well as former business secretary Sir Vince Cable and Jo Swinson, who also held the position of postal affairs minister whilst prosecutions took place.

Giving evidence to the ongoing public inquiry, Mrs Stringer said the CEOs of the Post Office are “pawns” in the scandal as “they did as they were told by [the Department of Business]... They are all dysfunctional to the core, the whole lot, and they need to be accountable.”

She added: “ There has to be a concerted effort to get the responsible individuals. It needs to be done as a block, otherwise those responsible will walk away nicely. I would like Vince Cable and Edward Davey to be cross examined about what they knew and did.”
‘Completely understands victims’ anger’

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said that Sir Ed did meet with postmasters and raise concerns whilst minister in charge of the Post Office.

They added: “Ed completely understands the victims’ anger at this appalling miscarriage of justice, and in hindsight he wishes he could have done more to help them. His focus is now on getting justice and compensation as quickly as possible to all those affected.

“Ed deeply regrets not realising that the Post Office was lying to him and other ministers on an industrial scale in what amounts to a conspiracy against the public. He will fully cooperate with the inquiry and is keen to give his evidence as soon as possible to help get to the bottom of this scandal.”

Liberal Democrat MP and former leader Tim Farron said: “Ed has said how much he regrets that the Post Office was lying to him, just like it was to everyone else. He’s experienced more than his fair share of tragedy in his life, I know he feels the pain of those affected by this scandal very deeply.”

What is Ed Davey's connection to the Post Office Horizon scandal?

Sir Ed Davey's role as postal affairs minister is coming back to haunt him as he faces accusations of 'fobbing off' victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

James Hockaday
Sun, 7 January 2024

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is facing questions over his former role as postal affairs minister. (Alamy)

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey is in the hot seat over his handling of the Post Office Horizon scandal during his time as a government minister.

Correspondence published by The Sunday Times shows how sub-postmaster Alan Bates grew increasingly frustrated as he wrote to ministers from three successive governments over the issue.

This included Ed Davey, who served as postal affairs minister between May 2010 and February 2012 under the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition government. Bates said Davey's response to his concerns were not only "disappointing", but "offensive" too.


Campaigning over the scandal, which saw 700 Royal Mail staff members prosecuted between 2000 and 2014 based on incorrect information on the service's computer system, has been running for several years now.

However, ITV's recent drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has thrust the issue back into the spotlight, with a petition to strip the postal service's former boss of her CBE passing 900,000.
Recommended reading

Ed Davey: I was misled by Post Office bosses over Horizon scandal (The Telegraph)


Government considers fast track appeals for wrongly convicted Post Office branch managers (The Independent)


Post Office scandal: Met Police launches investigation as petition to strip ex-boss of CBE passes 900,000 (Yahoo News)

With Ed Davey's record during the scandal also being brought into scrutiny, here's what we know about his role at the time.
Why is Ed Davey under pressure?

Ed Davey is facing questions over his role as postal affairs minister at a time when concerns were being raised over postmasters being wrongly incriminated due to errors by Horizon, a Post Office computer accounting system created by Fujitsu.

In a letter in May 2010, Bates urged Davey to intervene and push for an independent external investigation, The Sunday Times reported. He said: "The evidence is there to be found by anyone in a position of being able to unlock doors instead of placing barriers in the way of those pursuing the information."

Responding bluntly, Davey said the integrity of the Horizon system is a matter for Post Office Ltd and not the government. He added: "Whilst I do appreciate your concerns... I do not believe a meeting would serve any useful purpose."

Taken aback, Bates wrote back claiming that Davey's "arm's length" approach had enabled the Post Office to "carry on with impunity regardless of the human misery and suffering they inflict". He added: "You can meet with us and hear the real truth behind Horizon."

The Sunday Times reported that the pair met after this exchange, but when Bates subsequently wrote back to warn Davey of "yet another victim", the minister said he "made clear in the meeting" that neither he nor the Department for Business could step in before a legal judgement had been reached.
What backlash has Davey received?

Davey, and the Lib Dems in general, have been accused of "fobbing off the victims of Post Office miscarriages of justice" by SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who added: "With government comes responsibility."

She said that successive Conservative governments "shouldn't be off the hook", adding that it "falls on them to finally sort this out".

Speaking to GB News on Sunday, former BBC chief political correspondent John Sergeant suggested the Liberal Democrat leader's position was "crumbling" as a result of the scandal, adding: "I think it will come up time and time again, the role that he played."

The veteran journalist said that having attempted to palm the issue off as a Post Office matter, independent of any ministerial responsibility, Davey's position "completely crumbles" now that the government has conceded it has to pay compensation to victims.

Raising questions for Davey on Times Radio, Bates said: "I'd quite like to know how much briefing did Post Office executives do to him beforehand to steer him away from meeting with ourselves? What was said at that time? Why didn't he meet with us?"

Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells is facing calls to hand back her CBE. (PA)

How has Davey responded?

Responding to Bates's question, Ed Davey told Times Radio: "I regret not doing more. I feel, to be honest with you, I was deeply misled by Post Office executives. Alan is right to raise the point – they didn't come clean, and there were definitely attempts to stop me meeting them and I regret that we didn't do more, but we were clearly misled."

Asked about Post Office executives, Davey said: "Now they're dragging their feet, they're not bringing forward evidence to the inquiry and that is just outrageous given that there are postal masters getting older, some are even passing away sadly."

Davey said there were people "down the chain" from the chief executive who were "trying to prevent ministers and the wider public from knowing what was going on". He added: "I think they probably kept a lot of facts away from officials as well in the department."

A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said: "Ed's heart goes out to the families caught up in this scandal and his focus is on getting justice and compensation for those impacted. Not realising that the Post Office was lying on an industrial scale is a huge regret. Ed will fully cooperate with the inquiry to get to the bottom of what went wrong."

Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Sunak condemns 'appalling miscarriage of justice' of Horizon scandal

Sky News
Updated Sun, 7 January 2024



Rishi Sunak has condemned the Post Office Horizon scandal as an "appalling miscarriage of justice".

The prime minister also said ministers were examining whether to prevent the under-fire organisation from carrying out prosecutions or investigations in relation to the IT scandal.

The controversy has hit the headlines again following the airing of the TV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office.

Hundreds of people were held liable for financial discrepancies thrown up by faulty Fujitsu accounting software that made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.

This led to more than 700 convictions, criminal prosecutions and - in some cases - prison sentences. Dozens of victims died before they saw justice.

Speaking to broadcasters, the prime minister said: "This has been an appalling miscarriage of justice, an appalling treatment of all the people affected, and it's right that they get the redress that they deserve."

And Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is examining how to exonerate hundreds of subpostmasters and sub-postmistresses who were wrongfully convicted during the Horizon IT scandal - and whether further steps can be taken against the Post Office.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mr Sunak was asked whether the government would remove the Post Office's ability to investigate and prosecute.

Mr Sunak said: "The justice secretary is looking at the things that you've described, it wouldn't be right to pre-empt that process, obviously there's legal complexity in all of those things but he is looking at exactly those areas."

And he told broadcasters: "More broadly, the justice secretary is also looking at other options for how we can provide support for people.

"I can't pre-empt those findings, but we're keen to do everything we can because this was absolutely appalling.

"It should never have happened, we don't want it to happen again."

These measures are on top of the existing compensation schemes.

Mr Chalk is trying to determine whether the Post Office can be removed from the appeals process - meaning the Crown Prosecution Service would take over, The Sunday Times reports.

Sky's political correspondent Rob Powell said: "Politically pressure and attention is rising... about what can be done to make things right and better and what can be done to find out who is responsible for what went wrong.

"What The Sunday Times is reporting is that the justice secretary, Alex Chalk, is essentially considering ways to expedite the process by which people wrongfully convicted of these crimes can be exonerated.

"Government sources have confirmed to us that that work is taking place and that it would be around looking at how to remove the Post Office from the appeals process by which those convictions get quashed. In the past, we have seen the Post Office standing in the way of appeals going through."

Although the government announced a new fixed sum payment last year for victims of the scandal, critics have claimed the compensation doesn't go far enough - and is taking too long to be distributed.

Mr Sunak said: "The government has paid out about £150m to thousands of people already. Of course we want to get the money to the people as quickly as possible, that's why there are interim payments of up to, I think, £600,000 that can be made."

Pressure is also mounting on Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who was postal affairs minister when issues with the Horizon system started to emerge.

The Sunday Times says former sub-postmaster Alan Bates wrote to Sir Ed 12 years ago - and had warned that the accounting scandal could leave taxpayers exposed to "astronomical" costs.

It has also been revealed a frustrated Mr Bates cut off correspondence with the politician because he had received assurances from the Post Office that its systems were robust.

Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has defended Sir Ed, posting on X: "Ed has said how much he regrets that the Post Office was lying to him, just like it was to everyone else.

"He's experienced more than his fair share of tragedy in his life, I know he feels the pain of those affected by this scandal very deeply."

The scandal is expected to be a focus for many MPs when they return from their parliamentary recess on Monday.

It's been reported that Conservative MP Sir David Davis will call for Post Office managers involved in Horizon to be named and prosecuted, and for Fujitsu to lose its government contracts.

On Friday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that it is investigating the Post Office over potential offences including fraud, perjury and perverting the course of justice.

While two people have been interviewed under caution so far, no arrests have been made.

Separately, more than 910,000 people have signed a petition calling for Paula Vennells - the former Post Office chief executive depicted in the ITV mini-series - to lose her CBE.

Fujitsu must use its billions to compensate Post Office Horizon scandal victims, say campaigners


Dominic Penna
Sun, 7 January 2024 

Fujitsu must use its billions to compensate victims of the Post Office sub-postmaster Horizon scandal, campaign leaders have said.

Tory peer Lord Arbuthnot and Baron Falconer, who sits in the House of Lords for Labour, have both played prominent roles in seeking justice for the hundreds affected.

They were convicted between 1999 and 2015 because Horizon, a faulty accounting system that was designed by Fujitsu, made it seem as though money was missing from their businesses.


The Japanese multinational is worth about £58 billion and Britain is one of its key markets, with the firm representing around 7,000 jobs in the UK.

In a column for The Sunday Times, the peers said: “The inquiry needs to examine in detail the role of Fujitsu, which provided and managed the faulty software.

“Was Fujitsu completely unaware of the devastating effect of its actions? Should it not contribute to the compensation claims of hundreds of sub-postmasters?”

Baron Falconer - Heathcliff O'Malley

The Government has continued to work with Fujitsu in the wake of the scandal, awarding it public sector contracts worth £3 billion since 2013.

Last week, the Environment Agency announced that the firm had been given a £2 million contract extension to run the flood warnings system after reported delays in finding a replacement supplier.

Lord Arbuthnot and Baron Falconer called for a full statutory public inquiry “without the restrictions and limitations of the current one”.

They added: “There needs to be a fast-track procedure, within the inquiry, to calculate how each individual sub-postmaster should be compensated, for loss of money, for the trauma through which they have been forced and in many cases for the punishments they have wrongly been given.

“We should be ashamed of ourselves. But the value in shame is that it encourages one to do better. Provided we take the right steps, without further foot-dragging, we can begin to put things back in place. But for too many sub-postmasters, that can never happen.”

Lord Arbuthnot - Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament

Evidence from the faulty Horizon system secured the prosecutions of 700 sub-postmasters between 2000 and 2014, with the Post Office prosecuting them for false accounting, fraud and theft. Out of these, only 11 have been compensated in full.

On Sunday, Andrew Neil, the veteran broadcaster, described Fujitsu as “complicit” in the scandal and said those responsible for the Horizon scandal should be held to account.

He said: “They should have their day in court too. But it was the Post Office which put innocent people in jail.”

A spokesman for Fujitsu told The Telegraph: “The current Post Office Horizon IT statutory inquiry is examining complex events stretching back over 20 years to understand who knew what, when, and what they did with that knowledge. The Inquiry has reinforced the devastating impact on postmasters’ lives and that of their families, and Fujitsu has apologised for its role in their suffering.

“Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the inquiry in order to understand what happened and to learn from it. Out of respect for the inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time.”

Police probe Britain’s Post Office for accusing over 700 employees of theft

California mountain lion population is thousands fewer than previously estimated

Louis Sahagún
Sun, 7 January 2024 

A mountain lion sprints across San Vicente Boulevard, in Brentwood, in October 2022. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Scientists have completed the first comprehensive estimate of mountain lions in California, a vital statistic needed to shape puma-friendly land-use decisions and ensure that the predators can find room to roam, mate and find prey.

The total number of mountain lions is estimated to be between 3,200 and 4,500, which is thousands fewer than previously thought. The count was conducted by state and university scientists who used GPS collar data and genetic information from scat samples to model population densities across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Mojave Desert and Southern California’s patchwork of weedy, fire-stripped wilderness.

“The greatest density is in the coastal forests of Humboldt and Mendocino counties of Northwest California, and lowest is the high desert east of the Sierra Nevada range in Inyo County,” said Justin Dellinger, a large-carnivore biologist and leader of the California Mountain Lion Project effort. “The Central Valley and portions of the Mojave Desert have no mountain lions.”

Two orphaned mountain kittens huddle in a transport crate on their way to the Oakland Zoo in November 2023. (Oakland Zoo)


A report on the project’s findings will be reviewed by experts prior to publication in a scientific journal later this year.

“There’s never been a study of this scale and over such a large and diverse geographical area with such a variety of habitats,” said Winston Vickers, a co-author of the study and a veterinarian at the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center.

Read more: Why did California officials drop two mountain lions in the desert and leave them to die?

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife had for decades estimated that the state’s mountain lion population was roughly 6,000 — even despite relentless vehicle strikes, wildfires and encroachment by land-hungry humans throughout their range.

“That old figure was just a back-of-the-envelope calculation without much data to support it,” Dellinger said. “The new, more accurate information we collected will be used to conserve and manage mountain lions more appropriately.”

In a collaborative effort involving the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, the nonprofit Institute for Wildlife Studies and the nonprofit Audubon Canyon Ranch, Dellinger and others traipsed through mountain forests, canyons and desert badlands in search of tracks. They also set trail cameras and traps, tranquilized lions, took biological samples and fitted animals with tracking collars.

Dellinger said the group spent roughly $2.45 million in state funds over seven years to produce three population estimates: One suggests there are 4,511 cougars living in California, and the other two suggest the number is roughly 3,200.

Read more: In a remote corner of California, roaming dog packs leave a trail of blood and terror

Deciding which figure is most precise will be challenging for biologists tasked with reviewing the census report.

They already agree on one thing: Humans are the greatest threat to mountain lions. In California, close to 40 million people live within, or adjacent to, cougar habitat.

Mountain lions as a species are not listed as endangered. But in Southern California, vehicle strikes, rat poison, inbreeding, wildfires, poaching, urban encroachment and freeway systems are all contributing to what scientists call an “extinction vortex.”

There’s an almost 1 in 4 chance that the charismatic cats could be extinct in the Santa Monica and Santa Ana Mountains within 50 years.

The state Fish and Game Commission has granted cougars in six regions — from Santa Cruz to the U.S.-Mexico border — extra protection under "candidate status" to be listed as threatened.

The action came in response to a petition co-sponsored by the Center for Biological Diversity and the nonprofit Mountain Lion Foundation. It argues that six isolated and genetically distinct cougar clans within those areas comprise a sub-population that is threatened with extinction.

The commission is expected to make a final decision later this year.

“We look forward to getting mountain lions the protection that is clearly warranted and desperately needed,” said Brendan Cummings, the Center for Biological Diversity’s conservation director.

Read more: Venomous snakebites kill thousands every year. A California doctor may have a solution

The effect of the designation would be far-reaching.

If the state Fish and Game Commission agrees, the state Department of Transportation would not be allowed to build or expand highways in core mountain lion habitat without implementing adequate measures to ensure linkages and safe passage over them.

In addition, large-scale residential and commercial development could be prohibited or limited in mountain lion habitats within a region covering roughly a third of the state.

The new mountain lion population assessment comes at a time of ongoing efforts by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to identify and prioritize wildlife movement barriers across the state. It also comes at a time of growing support for wildlife crossings.

A view of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing construction site on the 101 Freeway. The structure on the right holds a time-lapse camera to document the project. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

One such bridge is the $87-million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, currently being constructed over a 10-lane stretch of the 101 Freeway near Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills.

In the meantime, officials are preparing new census campaigns to help guide development choices in areas where conflicts with other big predators over territory are testing public fortitude.

“The state is trying to get a black bear census off the ground,” Dellinger said. “Having as much data as possible is always best for managing species like that, especially in places where wilderness is overcrowded with people.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre announces resignation


Fri, 5 January 2024

Wayne LaPierre - Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo/Reuters

The longtime head of the National Rifle Association said Friday he is resigning, just days before the start of a civil trial over his spending of millions of dollars’ worth of travel, security and other perks at the powerful gun rights organsation’s expense.

Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president and chief executive officer, said his departure is effective January 31. The trial in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against him, the NRA and others who have served as organisation executives is scheduled to start on Monday. LaPierre and ex-NRA President Oliver North are among the witnesses expected to testify.

LaPierre, 74, has led the NRA’s day-to-day operations since 1991, acting as the face and vehement voice of its gun rights agenda. He once warned of “jack-booted government thugs” seizing guns, called for armed guards in every school after a spate of shootings, and condemned foes backing gun control measures as “opportunists” who “exploit tragedy for gain”.


In recent years though, the NRA has been beset by dwindling membership and financial troubles, along with lingering questions about LaPierre’s leadership and spending. One of LaPierre’s top lieutenants, Andrew Arulanandam, will assume his roles on an interim basis, the organisation said.

“With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA,” LaPierre said in a statement released by the organisation. “I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organisation for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever.”

Former US President Donald Trump greets Wayne LaPierre during the NRA's annual convention in 2022 - Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America

James, a Democrat, accuses LaPierre and other executives of illegally diverting tens of millions of dollars from the NRA and spending organisation funds on personal trips, no-show contracts and other questionable expenditures. LaPierre is accused in the lawsuit of spending millions on private jet flights and personal security and accepting expensive gifts — such as African safaris and use of a 107-foot (32-metre) yacht — from vendors.

He is also accused of setting himself up with a $17 million contract with the NRA if he were to exit the organisation, spending NRA money on travel consultants, luxury car services, and private jet flights for himself and his family — including more than $500,000 on eight trips to the Bahamas over a three-year span.

James is seeking to ban LaPierre and the other executives from serving in leadership positions of any not-for-profit or charitable organisation conducting business in New York, which would effectively remove them from any involvement with the NRA.

Some of the NRA’s excess spending was kept secret, the lawsuit said, under an arrangement with the organisation’s former advertising agency, Ackerman McQueen. The advertising firm would pick up the tab for expenses for LaPierre and other NRA executives and then send a lump sum bill to the organisation for “out-of-pocket expenses”, the lawsuit said.

LaPierre has defended himself, saying in previous testimony that cruising the Bahamas on a yacht was a “security retreat” because he was facing threats after mass shootings. He conceded not reporting the trips on conflict-of-interest forms, testifying: “It’s one of the mistakes I’ve made.”

UK
Exclusive: Police secretly conducting facial recognition searches of passport database

Chris Philp
Mark Wilding
Fri, 5 January 2024

It has emerged that forces searched the UK passport database using facial recognition technology more than 300 times in the first nine months of 2023 - iStock Editorial /Akabei

Police forces have been secretly conducting hundreds of facial recognition searches using the UK’s database of 46 million British passport holders, it can be revealed.

Chris Philp, the policing minister, raised the prospect last year of officers accessing the database of passport holders so they could use facial recognition to identify suspects in all burglaries, thefts and shoplifting.

An investigation by The Telegraph and Liberty Investigates, however, has found that the practice has been taking place since at least 2019 – with searches ramping up in the months before Mr Philp’s speech on the plans at October’s Tory party conference.


Data obtained from the Home Office through a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request shows forces searched the UK passport database – which contains the images of all 46 million British passport holders – using facial recognition technology more than 300 times in the first nine months of 2023. Forces have also carried out searches of the UK immigration database, which holds information on foreign nationals.

The revelation has sparked concern among MPs and watchdogs. After being told about the use of passport data, a spokesman for John Edwards, the information commissioner, said they would be raising the disclosure and its implications for data protection with the Home Office.

The spokesman said: “The Information Commissioner’s Office is engaged with the Home Office on a number of issues related to facial recognition technology to better ensure its use in line with data protection principles. We are now engaging on the issue of the passport database in light of this additional information.”
‘Importance of transparency’

David Davis, the former cabinet minister, said there was “no explicit legislative basis” for using facial recognition technology in the UK.

“The data on both the UK passport database and the immigration database was not provided for these purposes,” he said. “For the police to act like this undermines the data relationship between the citizen and the state. At the very least, the House of Commons should be informed precisely who authorised this and who carried it out.”

Tony Porter, the former surveillance camera commissioner, said it was “problematic” that passport holders’ data was being searched by police without their prior knowledge or consent that it was to be used for such a purpose.

“The other thing that is problematic is that the Government has extolled the importance of transparency. They should be putting this out there about how and why it’s legitimate otherwise they risk losing the trust and confidence of the public,” said Mr Porter, a former assistant chief constable.

Facial recognition technology allows the police to use images taken from sources such as CCTV or mobile phone footage – even those that are blurred or partially obscured – and search for matches in a database of potential suspects.

Use of the technology has sharply increased in recent years, and forces already conduct thousands of searches annually using the Police National Database, which holds around 16 million images of people who have been arrested including hundreds of thousands who were never charged or were cleared of an offence. Mr Philp is urging police forces to adopt facial recognition for its crime-fighting capabilities.

In December it emerged that police would also soon be able to search a database of Britain’s 50 million driving licence holders, under a new law making its way through Parliament.
‘It’s deeply concerning’

Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at campaign group Big Brother Watch, said its extension to passports was “deeply concerning.” “There is no clear legal basis for this intrusive technology. We urgently need a democratic, lawful approach to the role of facial biometrics in Britain,” she said.

The FOI request shows police forces conducted 391 facial recognition searches of the passport database over the past five years – most of them in 2023, when more than two-thirds of territorial forces across England, Wales and Scotland conducted at least one search. Eleven searches of the immigration database were also conducted last year. The Home Office said they were targeted on the most serious offences.

The Metropolitan Police was responsible for almost one in three passport searches in the first nine months of 2023. A spokesman for the force said: “Retrospective facial recognition is used after a crime has taken place as part of an investigation to try and identify who a person is. This technology significantly helped progress numerous investigations including those for murder, rape and assault. We use a number of methods to try to identify suspects, in a small number of cases we will work with other organisations who may be able to assist us.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The Government is committed to making sure the police have the tools and technology they need to solve and prevent crimes, bring offenders to justice, and keep people safe.

“Technology such as facial recognition helps the police quickly and accurately identify those wanted for serious crimes, as well as missing or vulnerable people. It also frees up police time and resources, meaning more officers can be out on the beat, engaging with communities and carrying out complex investigations.”