As I write Ed Davey is appearing at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry. You can watch him here:
You can use the same live link to watch Jo Swinson at the inquiry tomorrow morning .
You can catch up here.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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Jo Swinson has just finished giving her evidence.
An extremely impressive contribution.
Just to elaborate…In the last few minutes of the morning session Swinson explains how she was pushing and pushing to see the Second Sight report. The enquiry then reveals an outrageous memo where officials tell one another that they need to find an “absolute showstopper” of an argument to prevent her seeing said report. Officials also lie outright by saying that the Second Sight report does not touch on the supposedly blameless Horizon system.
“Yes Minister” and “The Thick of It” are tame stuff compared with some of this!
As a long time student of political history who first joined (and was employed by) the Liberal Party way back in 1962, I’ve come to believe that the basic qualifications for any politician aspiring to ministerial office must include a strong sense of curiosity and scepticism……. especially when coming from a party with radical aspirations.
Anything less must be a civil servant’s dream. In the meantime, a tip of the hat to James Arbuthnot and Kevan Jones.