By Mark Kleinman, City editor

The Post Office has agreed a further extension to its scandal-hit software deal with the Japanese company Fujitsu as it plots a move to a rival supplier in the next couple of years.

Paste BN has learnt that the Post Office, which is owned by the government, is to pay another £41m to Fujitsu for the use of the Horizon system from next April until 31 March 2027.

The move comes as Post Office bosses prepare to sever the company's partnership with Fujitsu, which is under pressure to pay hundreds of millions of pounds for its part in the scandal.

Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongfully imprisoned for fraud and theft because of flaws with Fujitsu's software, which it subsequently emerged were suspected by executives involved in its management.

Last week, Paste BN revealed that Sir Alan Bates, who led efforts to seek justice for the victims of what has been dubbed Britain's biggest miscarriage of justice, had settled his multimillion pound compensation claim with the government.

Sir Alan received a seven-figure sum, which one source said may have amounted to between £4m and £5m.

Dame Caroline Dineage, the chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is speaking to Paste BN this morning.

Asked about the resignation of Tim Davie as head of the BBC, she says: "I wasn't expecting the resignations. They are very sad. 

"I think it's really regrettable that Tim Davie had to step down, [he had a] huge commitment to the BBC and public service broadcasting.

"But I think he was right to do so. I think restoring trust in the corporation has got to come first."

Dineage is expecting to get a letter from the BBC today after her committee wrote to them last week.

The group of MPs wanted to know more about various issues - including the edited Panorama video of Donald Trump's 6 January 2021 speech.

Who is to blame for two more inmates being wrongly freed from prison? The Conservatives attempted a mic drop moment with David Lammy this week by trying to get the justice secretary to admit to it live in the House of Commons.

So why did Lammy avoid the question five times? And when 262 prisoners were released by mistake in the year to March - how is this happening every week?

At the very least, Harriet sees the saga as an opportunity for the government to sort out the prison service.

Plus Beth, Ruth and Harriet are joined by pollster Luke Tryl, and a group of voters who tell us why they're not convinced by the prime minister so far.

So how tricky is this budget going to be for Rachel Reeves when most people's top worry is the cost of living? Can she actually put up taxes? And will more people just end up supporting Nigel Farage and Zack Polanski?

You can listen to today's episode below, or wherever you get your podcasts.

With the slew of erroneous releases from prisons in recent weeks, months and years, pollsters at YouGov have been asking the public who they hold accountable.

And it will be welcome news for the government, as the prison service seem to be copping most of the blame.

A total of 19% of the 6,436 people asked on Friday blame the politicians, while 58% blame the prison service.

While both Reform and Tory voters are a bit more likely to blame the government than their Labour and Lib Dem peers, all four groups most blame the prison operators.

 Sam reveals there might be some Traitors style plotting going on behind the scenes in the government. But from whom? And how might Sir Keir Starmer see off this challenge?  

Budget speculation continues, and specifically – who is and is not a "working person"? And, should it occur, what would the consequences be of breaking a manifesto commitment? How perilous a moment for Starmer could this be? 

And after the BBC's director general and head of news resign, what does Starmer now say about the organisation? And who will come next in the top BBC job? 

Tap here to get Politics at Sam and Anne's wherever you get your podcasts.

Veterans minister Louise Sandher-Jones is speaking to Paste BN this morning.

She is asked about the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.

The minister does well to avoid being too committal, and points to the fact Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy thanked Davie for his service.

But pushed by Sophy Ridge, Sandher-Jones concedes that "on the whole", she reckons the BBC does reflect the views of the country.

"When you look at the huge range of domestic issues, local issues, international issues that it has to cover, I think its output is very trusted. 

"And again, when I speak to people who've got very strongly held views on those, they're still using the BBC for a lot of their information for forming their views on this. 

"I think we can all point to elements of BBC broadcasting of news and say, well, that reflects my views and that doesn't, and that's absolutely right, that we should be able to say that. "

Asked if it's right that President Donald Trump has publicly criticised the BBC in the wake of the row, the minister says Davie and Turness made clear it was their own decision to stand down.

"President Trump will obviously speak for himself," she says.

In his interview with Mornings with Ridge and Frost, former prime minister Gordon Brown is asked for his thoughts on the resignation of BBC bosses Tim Davie and Deborah Turness.

Brown says: "I think the problem that the BBC has had is this happened a year ago.

"And an apology should be made instantly if a mistake has been made, you've got to apologise instantly - and then I don't think Tim Davie or the head of news would have had to resign because they would have corrected the mistake immediately.

"It went unreported, unacknowledged, apologised for, and I think that is where trust becomes an issue."

He says that things like Bob Vylan at Glastonbury and the Martin Bashir interview of Princess Diana are the kind of mistakes that can lead to a breakdown of trust between the BBC and the public.

The former PM says he doesn't "personally" think there's an institutional bias at the BBC.

Instead, he says: "We're talking about isolated incidents over a period of time, and you can blow that up into being a huge crisis."

Brown finishes: "Mistakes will be made, but they've got to be corrected immediately. 

"A year's gap is just not good enough - think that's the problem."

Former prime minister and chancellor Gordon Brown is speaking to Mornings with Ridge and Frost.

While he is on to speak about child poverty and the work he is doing about that, it is also interesting to hear his thoughts on the upcoming budget.

Brown says he respects both Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer and the difficult situation they are in.

But he does say he's expecting changes on two things in the budget - the two child benefit cap, and gambling taxes.

Brown says he has been feeding into the government's consultations on changes to the tax system ahead of the budget at the end of this month.

"I am confident that the two child rule will be addressed," Brown says.

He added: "We're waiting for Rachel Reeves's budget, which I think will mention this.

"Keir Starmer, I know, is personally a concerned and interested in this. 

"So I'm hopeful that in the next few weeks we'll see the kind of action that we've been talking about."

Increase the tax on gambling

On gambling taxes, Brown says he has responded to government consultations to create a policy, as they don't currently have one - "so I'm not trying to tell the government to change its policy".

Instead, he says his message is: "This is the new policy and this would be a good way of doing it."

He added that he felt the Gambling Council were "not prepared to admit the social harm that's caused" by gambling.

The former chancellor pointed out that cigarettes and alcohol are taxed at 80% and 70% respectively, whereas online gambling pays a 21% levy.

"The government wants to make a change," Brown says.

"What is the change will come out, I think, in the budget."

He says he wants to see the money to go to fighting child poverty.

Amid serious concerns over the editorial mistakes made by the BBC, the downfall of its leaders has been greeted with undisguised glee by many on the right of British politics.

Former prime minister Liz Truss was quick off the mark to retweet gloating posts from Donald Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt with clapping emojis.

Ms Truss argued not just for the abolition of the licence fee, but for the end of nationalised broadcasting altogether.

Her former cabinet colleague Suella Braverman has also called for the licence fee to be scrapped.

It's an idea long advocated by Nadine Dorries during her time as culture secretary. The recent Reform convert is particularly pessimistic about the BBC's future - telling me she believes its "core bias" has worsened in recent years.

"I'm afraid the resignation of Tim Davie will change nothing," she said. "Under this Labour government overseeing the new appointment... it will probably get worse."

Welcome back to the Politics Hub.

The House of Commons is still in recess today - as MPs are given a long weekend so they can stay in their constituencies for Remembrance Sunday events.

However, the House of Lords is sitting - so we could see something in the upper chamber from the government on the resignation of BBC leadership last night.

There could also potentially be something on the release of prisoners - but it's all a bit up in the air.

Elsewhere, former prime minister Gordon Brown is speaking to Paste BN this morning ahead of the budget - where the famously fastidious former chancellor will surely give his thoughts on what should be prioritised.

Also speaking to Paste BN this morning will be veterans minister Louise Sandher-Jones and shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith.