Post Office scandal back in spotlight as MPs grill Fujitsu bosses and wronged sub-postmasters
The Post Office scandal will be back in the spotlight today, when MPs hear evidence from a number of witnesses including campaigner and wronged sub-postmaster Alan Bates.
Mr Bates, whose story inspired the ITV hit drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, will appear in front of parliament’s Business and Trade Committee alongside other figures, including business minister Kevin Hollinrake and representatives from Fujitsu, which developed Horizon, the faulty IT system at the heart of the scandal.
MPs on the committee will quiz the witnesses about the process for delivering fair and timely compensation for the victims of the scandal, which occurred between 1999 and 2015.
What is the scandal about?
The Post Office Horizon IT scandal saw more than 700 sub-postmasters and mistresses convicted after faulty Fujitsu software made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.
Last Wednesday Rishi Sunak confirmed that all victims of the IT scandal will have their convictions quashed under fast-tracked legislation after growing pressure to take more serious action.
Number 10 also confirmed that sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses would be eligible for a £75,000 upfront payment with the new law, but acknowledged that would not be sufficient for everyone.
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Post Office victim: ‘I was spat on’
The move was prompted by the TV drama, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which chronicled the campaigners’ two-decade fight for justice and detailed the poor treatment they received at the hands of their employer.
Mr Sunak said last week that the government had paid almost £150m in compensation to over 2,500 victims and pledged that victims would be “swiftly exonerated and compensated”.
Who is appearing before the committee?
Among those who will give evidence to MPs today is Alan Bates, a key member of Justice For Sub-postmasters Alliance whom the ITV drama was named after.
Mr Bates, who was played by the actor Toby Jones in the drama, was one one of six lead claimants in the original court battle with the Post Office. He believes he was dismissed because he flagged up problems with the Horizon system.
Speaking to Sky News ahead of his questioning by MPs, Mr Bates said he had “one concern – and it’s to get the compensation right – that’s it.
“They should be moving heaven and earth to get it done and get it done fast.”
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‘The whole thing is unbelievable’
He will appear alongside Jo Hamilton, who was played by Monica Dolan and whose story also featured heavily in the series.
The sub-postmistress in South Warnborough, Hampshire, previously told Sky News of the pressure she faced to plead guilty and how she felt “backed into a corner”.
“I felt I had a gun held to my head and had no choice,” added Ms Hamilton.
“They said if I pleaded guilty to false accounting and paid the £36,000 shortfall, they would drop the theft charge.
“I was so terrified of going to prison, I couldn’t think of anything else. It was terrifying.”
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‘They made me look like a criminal’
Crucially, the committee will also hear from Paul Patterson, the chief executive of Fujitsu’s Europe arm – the first time an executive has answered questions on the scandal – and Nick Read the current chief executive of the Post Office.
Other witnesses include Dr Neil Hudgell, executive chairman of Hudgell Solicitors, the firm which represented 74 people who have already had their convictions quashed.
Read more:
Who are the key figures in Post Office scandal?
TV drama writer warned ‘nobody would watch’ programme
Post Office scandal: Horizon developer Fujitsu handed £6.8bn in public contracts since 2012
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom, the Tory peer and former MP who has campaigned on behalf of the sub-postmasters for nearly 15 years, will also give evidence.
Postal services minister Kevin Hollinrake – who has argued that figures at the Post Office who are found to be responsible for the scandal should be jailed as the “ultimate deterrent” – will also appear before MPs, as will Carl Cresswell, director of business resilience at the Department for Business and Trade.
What is happening at the Post Office inquiry hearing?
Separately, the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry will continue in London and will hear from Rajbinder Sangha, the release management coordinator of Fujitsu Services and former member of Fujitsu’s fraud and litigation support office.
A statutory inquiry opened in 2021 into what has been described as the “worst miscarriage of justice in recent British legal history”.
On Thursday at the inquiry, former investigator Stephen Bradshaw, who was involved in the criminal investigation of nine sub-postmasters, denied he and others “behaved like mafia gangsters” in the criminal probe of several sub-postmasters.
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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