The current Liberal Democrat leader – and formerly a minister with responsibility for the Post Office – has faced questions about whether he could have done more during his time in office
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has accused civil servants of lying to him over the scandal of wrongful convictions of Post Office staff stemming from the flawed Horizon software system.
Davey said yesterday that officials at the then-Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – where he was a junior coalition government minister from 2010 to 2012 – had misled him when he began asking questions about convictions of subpostmasters connected to the system.
More than 700 subpostmasters were convicted of theft, false accounting and fraud in the 15 years following the introduction of the Horizon system, produced by Fujitsu subsidiary ICL Pathway, in 1999. Hundreds more have faced accusations of wrongdoing.
While the scandal has been acknowledged for several years – and is the subject of a public inquiry that launched in 2020 – the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has led to soaring public and political interest in the matter.
Alan Bates was a subpostmaster in north Wales and an early whistleblower of problems with Horizon. In 2009 he became a cofounder of the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance.
In an interview with Sky News this week, Davey said he had broached concerns raised by Bates in BIS when he was a junior minister in the department – only to receive untruthful responses.
“I wish I’d known then what we all know now,” Davey said. “The Post Office was lying on an industrial scale to me and other ministers. When I met Alan Bates and listened to his concerns, I put those concerns to officials in my department, to the Post Office and to the National Federation of Postmasters and it’s clear they all were lying to me.”
Related content
- Government to compensate victims that exposed Horizon scandal but were excluded from Post Office scheme
- Critics claim government review into Post Office IT scandal does not go far enough to address ‘largest miscarriage of justice in our history’
- Post Office and Fujitsu to ‘fully cooperate’ with government probe of Horizon IT scandal
Davey said his heart went out to subpostmasters who were victims of the scandal.
“We need to make sure their convictions are overturned and we need to make sure they are fairly compensated and quickly,” he said.
Davey was parliamentary undersecretary of state for employment relations and consumer affairs in the first two years of the Conservative-led coalition government. His responsibilities at BIS included the Post Office and postal policy.
Since the Horizon system went live Labour ministers, Conservative ministers and Lib Dems have held similar briefs. Kevin Hollinrake, parliamentary undersecretary of state responsible for enterprise, markets and small business at the Department for Business and Trade, currently holds the postal services brief.
Prompted by a surge in interest in the scandal, fuelled by Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Hollinrake told parliament yesterday that the government was keen to “speed up the whole process” of overturning scandal victims’ convictions.
“The Post Office scandal is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history, shaking people’s faith in the principles of equity and fairness that form the core pillars of our legal system,” Hollinrake said. “Watching last week’s ITV programme has only reinforced our zeal for seeing justice done as quickly as possible.”
He added that “full and final compensation” had already been paid to 64% of those people affected and that his main concerns were for those still waiting for compensation and over the slow pace at which criminal convictions related to Horizon are being overturned by the courts.
As interest in the scandal has intensified, a number of MPs have turned their attention to the role of Fujitsu, with former ministers from both Labour and Conservatives suggesting that the firm – which still holds hundreds of millions of pounds of government tech contracts – should be suspended from public procurement processes.
먹튀레이더에 대한 정보가 정말 유용하네요! 방문하다 먹튀레이더
I抳e been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or blog posts in this sort of house . Exploring in Yahoo I eventually stumbled upon this web site. Reading this information So i抦 happy to convey that I’ve an incredibly just right uncanny feeling I found out exactly what I needed. I so much definitely will make certain to do not put out of your mind this website and provides it a glance regularly.
International concern, excess deaths – YouTube https://linkdirectory.at/detail/international-concern-excess-deaths-youtube
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article. https://www.binance.com/si-LK/register?ref=V2H9AFPY
Thanks for another informative blog. Where else could I get that type of information written in such a perfect way? I’ve a project that I’m just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such info.
Excellent website. A lot of helpful info here. I抦 sending it to some buddies ans additionally sharing in delicious. And naturally, thanks for your effort!
Thank you for another magnificent article. Where else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such information.
Wonderful website. Plenty of useful information here. I am sending it to several friends ans additionally sharing in delicious. And certainly, thank you for your effort!
You made some decent factors there. I regarded on the web for the issue and found most people will go along with along with your website.
I抳e read some good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to create such a great informative site.
I抦 not sure where you are getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic information I was looking for this information for my mission.
Porn site