I have received a lot of correspondence from constituents regarding the Post Office Horizon scandal and concerns about the treatment of those accused of theft based on evidence from the Horizon IT system.
Following the findings from both the BBC’s Panorama: Scandal at the Post Office broadcast in April 2022 and the recent ITV dramatisation Mr Bates v The Post Office, there is a strong public outcry for the Government to provide answers for the unjust prosecutions. It is right that the Post Office should be held to account, and I welcome that it has finally apologised, agreed to pay compensation to those affected and convictions continue to be overturned. However, it is my opinion that this process of restitution has taken too long, and I am supportive of the legislation that the Prime Minister has announced to quash the convictions and to speedily compensate the victims via fresh legislation.
The initial response from the Post Office and its executives was one of denial and obfuscation. Even when evidence of the system’s flaws became irrefutable, there was a reluctance to take responsibility. This is not merely a failure of technology but a failure of leadership and corporate governance. The impact on the victims cannot be overstated. Financial ruin, mental health crises, broken families, and even suicides have been linked to this scandal. The Post Office, an institution trusted by the public, betrayed that trust in the most heinous way imaginable.
It is also not acceptable for Fujistu, the manufacturers of the Horizon IT system, to have not been, thus far, held to account for their role. The Minister for Small Business, Markets and Enterprise, has recently announced that the Government was considering taking legal action in order to recoup the compensation costs, as well as to definitively establish that the company does bear responsibility for the shoddiness of the computer system.
While the Government has now established an independent review to consider whether the Post Office has learned the necessary lessons and to find fact on where culpability lies, it has taken too long. The Statutory Inquiry was convened only in February 2022, some seven years after the last cases were prosecuted by the Post Office. It is chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, President of the Welsh Tribunal and retired High Court Justice and he is due to report in the summer. The inquiry will make sure that there is a public summary of the failings that occurred at the Post Office. More broadly, it will establish who is to blame, if it could ever happen again and what can be done to prevent it from happening again.
Whist Paula Vennells has said she is handing her CBE back, it is my opinion that this should not appease the desire to fully explore the extent to which she and her fellow directors were responsible for the blind pursuit of the postmasters. The Prime Minister has also voiced his support for an investigation into this matter, so be assured that the Government is considering the full range of penalties for the mishandling of the Horizon system implementation.
I will continue to monitor any developments closely, and I look forward to seeing justice served to all the wrongfully convicted postmasters.