Post Office should be removed from Horizon scandal compensation process, MPs demand
The Post Office should be removed from involvement in the Horizon scandal compensation processes, a committee of MPs has demanded while piling further pressure on its chief executive.
The Business and Trade Committee published recommendations for delivering faster and fuller payments to the hundreds of victims, describing efforts to deliver redress to date as an “abject failure”.
Chairman Liam Byrne said it was a “national disgrace” that “only £1 in £5 of the budget for compensation has been issued” to sub-postmasters to date and legally-binding timetables were needed to restore urgency and confidence.
The committee’s report stated the Post Office was “not fit for purpose to administer any of the schemes required to make amends”.
It blamed both victims’ lack of confidence in the firm and its “chaotic” leadership.
The MPs’ determinations were partly linked to a separate war of words playing out over conduct at the Post Office.
The focus on the sub-postmaster victims shifted last week when former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton, sacked by the business secretary in January, told the committee that an investigation believed to have focused on his own conduct was actually concentrated on chief executive Nick Read.
A letter by Mr Staunton to the committee, and released by the MPs, alleged that Mr Read was facing claims of bullying and sexism by a senior member of staff.
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Staunton says investigation was made into Nick Read
He also cast doubts again on Mr Read’s assertion, in front of the committee, that he had not threatened to resign.
Mr Staunton claimed Mr Read was particularly unhappy over his salary and dismissed conduct questions against himself as “flimsy”.
The committee is expected to consider whether to publish a document, pledged by the Post Office, that is understood to include the details of the allegations against Mr Read.
In its findings against the Post Office on Thursday, the committee expressed a lack of confidence in his leadership.
“Mr Read has supplied misleading evidence to the committee on at least two counts, relating to the Post Office’s use of,
first, non-disclosure agreements and, secondly, public relations firms.
“The Post Office is not fit for purpose to administer any of the schemes of redress required to make amends for one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history”, it noted.
It called on the government to create a “properly resourced” independent intermediary that would offer legal and forensic accounting services to victims to ensure victims are equipped with all the facts and figures they need to secure fair redress and compensation.
Other measures recommended by the report included removing a cap on legal expenses for sub-postmasters and a standardised set of tariffs to help victims to better estimate what they are entitled to.
The findings largely follow the issues raised with the committee by Alan Bates, the former sub-postmaster whose experience formed the basis of the TV drama that brought their plight firmly back to public attention.
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Politics
Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy – as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the “vast majority of farmers” will not be affected by changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) ahead of a protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a 20% inheritance tax that will apply to farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, where they were previously exempt.
But the prime minister looked to quell fears as he resisted calls to change course.
Speaking from the G20 summit in Brazil, he said: “If you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3m before any inheritance tax is paid.”
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The comments come as thousands of farmers, including celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson, are due to descend on Whitehall on Tuesday to protest the change.
And 1,800 more will take part in a “mass lobby” where members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet their MPs in parliament to urge them to ask Ms Reeves to reconsider the policy.
Speaking to broadcasters, Sir Keir insisted the government is supportive of farmers, pointing to a £5bn investment announced for them in the budget.
He said: “I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.
“They will be affected by the £5bn that we’re putting into farming. And I’m very happy to work with farmers on that.”
Sir Keir’s spokesman made a similar argument earlier on Monday, saying the government expects 73% of farms to not be affected by the change.
Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK’s 209,000 farms would be affected, according to Treasury calculations.
However, that number has been questioned by several farming groups and the Conservatives.
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Farming industry is feeling ‘betrayed’ – NFU boss
Government figures ‘misleading’
The NFU said the real number is about two-thirds, with its president Tom Bradshaw calling the government’s figures “misleading” and accusing it of not understanding the sector.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the policy could affect 70,000 farms.
Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore accused the government last week of “regurgitating” figures that represent “past claimants of agricultural property relief, not combined with business property relief” because he said the Treasury does not have that data.
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Agricultural property relief (APR) currently provides farmers 100% relief from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land or pasture used for rearing livestock or fish, and can include woodland and buildings, such as farmhouses, if they are necessary for that land to function.
Farmers can also claim business property relief (BPR), providing 50% or 100% relief on assets used by a trading business, which for farmers could include land, buildings, plant or machinery used by the business, farm shops and holiday cottages.
APR and BPR can often apply to the same asset, especially farmed land, but APR should be the priority, however BPR can be claimed in addition if APR does not cover the full value (e.g. if the land has development value above its agricultural value).
APR and BPR can apply to farmland, which the Conservatives say has been overlooked by the Treasury in compiling its impact figures. File pic: iStock
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Mr Moore said the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” due to the lack of data on farmers using BPR.
Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said last week1,400 farmers in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and will not be able to afford to pay the tax as many are on less than the minimum wage despite being asset rich.
Politics
Cabinet split over assisted dying as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson latest to reveal she will vote against bill
A split is emerging in the cabinet, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson revealing she will join several of her colleagues and vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying.
Ms Phillipson told Sky News she will vote against the proposed legislation at the end of this month, which would give terminally ill people with six months to live the option to end their lives.
She voted against assisted dying in 2015 and said: “I haven’t changed my mind.
“I continue to think about this deeply. But my position hasn’t changed since 2015.”
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Details of end of life bill released
MPs will be given a free vote on the bill, so they will not be told how to vote by their party.
The topic has seen a split in the cabinet – however, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has yet to reveal how he will vote on 29 November.
Ms Phillipson joins some other big names who have publicly said they are voting against the bill
These include Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Border security minister Angela Eagle is also voting against the bill.
Senior cabinet members voting in favour of assisted dying include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Science Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.
The split over the issue is said to be causing friction within government, with Sir Keir rebuking the health secretary for repeatedly saying he is against the bill and for ordering officials to review the costs of implementing any changes in the law.
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called for a cost report into assisted dying. Pic: PA
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates has been told Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff, is concerned about the politics of the bill passing.
He is understood to be worried the issue will dominate the agenda next year and, while he is not taking a view on the bill, he can see it taking over the national conversation and distracting from core government priorities like the economy and borders.
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Details of the bill were published last week and include people wanting to end their life having to self-administer the medicine.
It would only be allowed for terminally ill people who have been given six months to live.
Two independent doctors would have to confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge would have to give their approval before it could go ahead.
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