Post Office scandal: Daughter of victim, who was investigated as she fought cancer, calls on Fujitsu for compensation
The daughter of a Post Office victim who was investigated while fighting terminal cancer says it’s time Fujitsu “took responsibility” on compensation.
Katie Watson’s mother Fiona passed away in 2004 less than a year after being forced to admit to stealing from her branch.
During the investigation she was diagnosed with lymphoma.
Ms Watson described it as “cold” and “heartless” to carry on with investigating her mother instead of giving her “a chance” to rest.
“Even if it was a case of ‘go through your treatment and we deal with this on the other side’, there was none of that,” she told Sky News.
What is the Post Office scandal?
Ms Watson added: “If she had been able to fight it properly then she may have had a bit longer… she declined really quickly…she just couldn’t do it anymore.”
Katie’s mother died of cancer after being falsely accused of stealing from the Post Office
IT company Fujitsu developed the faulty accounting software Horizon – which saw hundreds of sub postmasters wrongfully accused of stealing from their Post Offices between 1999 and 2015.
Ms Watson is part of a campaign group called Lost Chances which was set up after Fujitsu said it was “morally obligated” to help victims and their families in January.
Fiiona Watson ( L) died before her innocence was established. Pic: Family handout
Paul Patterson, Fujitsu’s European head, spoke at the Post Office inquiry saying he would “engage” in conversation with sub postmasters and relatives.
He also appeared at a select committee in the same month admitting that the company had a “moral obligation” to contribute towards compensation.
Ms Watson said: “It’s time (Fujitsu) took responsibility and meant it…so far as yet there’s been no action behind it – [Paul Patterson] actually needs to do something.”
Mr Patterson met with sub postmasters and the children of Post Office scandal victims in August.
At the time he spoke to Sky News stating that Fujitsu “will contribute to redress” but that the company’s “common position” was “when the inquiry finishes”.
Read more:
Depression, bankruptcy and jail: Why we sued the Post Office
Son’s anger after mum jailed in second Post Office scandal
The last phase of the inquiry is now drawing to a close – with final submissions held in December.
At his last appearance at the inquiry earlier this month Mr Patterson insisted that the company still “want to engage” but he was “still unclear” on how to help relatives of victims “other than sums of money”.
He promised not to “stay silent” and would explore if Fujitsu is able to “engage” with Lost Chances “before the end of the calendar year”.
The campaign group say their aim is not necessarily just about financial redress but also getting support from Fujitsu in other ways such as establishing a “family fund” to help with things like educational grants and counselling.
After the death of her mother Ms Watson said she was forced to get her first job at 14 years old to “help put food on the table” after her family lost everything.
“We ended up in a caravan – but the caravan site you could only be there for nine months of the year so for three months we were homeless,” she continued.
She added: “I didn’t end up going to college. I missed out on those opportunities – to go to school and have all that childhood.”
Ms Watson now works two jobs, seven days a week.
She said she would “never get back what we lost” but just wanted Fujitsu “to take ownership”.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We apologise unreservedly to victims of the Horizon IT Scandal and their loved ones.
“Post Office today is doing all we can to transform the organisation for the future and support those impacted to find closure, as far as that can ever be possible.”
The cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), which halted production for nearly six weeks at its sites, cost the company roughly £200m, it has been revealed.
Latest accounts released on Friday showed “cyber-related costs” were £196m, which does not include the fall in sales.
Profits took a nose dive, falling from nearly £400m (£398m) a year ago to a loss of £485m in the three months to the end of September.
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Revenues dropped nearly 25% and the effects may continue as the manufacturing halt could slow sales in the final three months of the year, executives said.
The impact of the shutdown also hit factories across the car-making supply chain.
Slowing the UK economy
The production pause was a large contributor to a contraction in UK economic growth in September, official figures showed.
Had car output not fallen 28.6%, the UK economy would have grown by 0.1% during the month. Instead, it fell by 0.1%.
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How cyber attack ‘effectively hacked GDP’
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Reacting to JLR’s impact on the GDP contraction, its chief financial officer, Richard Molyneux, said it was “interesting to hear” and it “goes to reinforce” that JLR is really important in the UK economy.
The company, he said, is the “biggest exporter of goods in the entire country” and the effect on GDP “is a reflection of the success JLR has had in past years”.
Recovery
The company said operations were “pretty much back running as normal” and plants were “at or approaching capacity”.
Production of all luxury vehicles resumed.
Investigations are underway into the attack, with law enforcement in “many jurisdictions” involved, the company said.
When asked about the cause of the hack and the hackers, JLR said it was not in a position to answer questions due to the live investigation.
A run of attacks
The manufacturer was just one of a number of major companies to be seriously impacted by cyber criminals in recent months.
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Are we in a cyber attack ‘epidemic’?
High street retailer Marks and Spencer estimated the cost of its IT outage was roughly £136m. The sum only covers the cost of immediate incident systems response and recovery, as well as specialist legal and professional services support.
The Co-Op and Harrods also suffered service disruption caused by cyber attacks.
Four people were arrested by police investigating the incidents.
Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have scrapped plans to break their manifesto pledge and raise income tax rates in a massive U-turn less than two weeks from the budget.
The decision, first reported in the Financial Times, comes after a bruising few days which has brought about a change of heart in Downing Street.
Read more: How No 10 plunged itself into crisis
I understand Downing Street has backed down amid fears about the backlash from disgruntled MPs and voters.
The Treasury and Number 10 declined to comment.
The decision is a massive about-turn. In a news conference last week, the chancellor appeared to pave the way for manifesto-breaking tax rises in the budget on 26 November.
She spoke of difficult choices and insisted she could neither increase borrowing nor cut spending in order to stabilise the economy, telling the public “everyone has to play their part”.
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‘Aren’t you making a mockery of voters?’
The decision to backtrack was communicated to the Office for Budget Responsibility on Wednesday in a submission of “major measures”, according to the Financial Times.
The chancellor will now have to fill an estimated £30bn black hole with a series of narrower tax-raising measures and is also expected to freeze income tax thresholds for another two years beyond 2028, which should raise about £8bn.
Tory shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said: “We’ve had the longest ever run-up to a budget, damaging the economy with uncertainty, and yet – with just days to go – it is clear there is chaos in No 10 and No 11.”
How did we get here?
For weeks, the government has been working up options to break the manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT on working people.
I was told only this week the option being worked up was to do a combination of tax rises and action on the two-child benefit cap in order for the prime minister to be able to argue that in breaking his manifesto pledges, he is trying his hardest to protect the poorest in society and those “working people” he has spoken of so endlessly.
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Ed Conway on the chancellor’s options
But days ago, officials and ministers were working on a proposal to lift the basic rate of income tax – perhaps by 2p – and then simultaneously cut national insurance contributions for those on the basic rate of income tax (those who earn up to £50,000 a year).
That way the chancellor can raise several billion in tax from those with the “broadest shoulders” – higher-rate taxpayers and pensioners or landlords, while also trying to protect “working people” earning salaries under £50,000 a year.
The chancellor was also going to take action on the two-child benefit cap in response to growing demand from the party to take action on child poverty. It is unclear whether those plans will now be shelved given the U-turn on income tax.
A rough week for the PM
The change of plan comes after the prime minister found himself engulfed in a leadership crisis after his allies warned rivals that he would fight any attempted post-budget coup.
It triggered a briefing war between Wes Streeting and anonymous Starmer allies attacking the health secretary as the chief traitor.
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Wes Streeting: Faithful or traitor? Beth Rigby’s take
Read more: Is Starmer ‘in office but not in power’?
The prime minister has since apologised to Mr Streeting, who I am told does not want to press for sackings in No 10 in the wake of the briefings against him.
But the saga has further damaged Sir Keir and increased concerns among MPs about his suitability to lead Labour into the next general election.
Insiders clearly concluded that the ill mood in the party, coupled with the recent hits to the PM’s political capital, makes manifesto-breaking tax rises simply too risky right now.
But it also adds to a sense of chaos, given the chancellor publicly pitch-rolled tax rises in last week’s news conference.
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