Rishi Sunak Says Post Office Horizon Scandal An “Appalling Miscarriage Of Justice
Rishi Sunak is coming under increasing pressure to speed up compensation payments to victims of the Post Office scandal.
Former workers wrongly accused of stealing from the Post Office have accused the government of issuing payments at a “snail’s pace”.
The prime minister said on Sunday that the government was examining ways to speed up the appeals process for wrongly convicted Post Office branch managers after what has been described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history. Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, was scheduled to hold urgent talks with other ministers in his department
“What are you going to do to ensure we get fair and final compensation, not in dribs and drabs and not at a snail’s pace?” Sue Knight, a postmistress who lost everything after she was wrongly accused of theft, asked Mr Sunak during an appearance on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“Please stop making us still feel like victims,” she added.
Post Office boss should ‘give back’ CBE – Labour frontbencher
The former Post Office boss who was in charge during the Horizon scandal should “give back” her CBE, a Labour frontbencher has said.
Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, said: “In terms of the honour that the former head of the Post Office received… well, speaking for myself personally here, I do think she should give that back,” he told TalkTV.
“It’s an insult to the sub-postmasters who suffered from what her leadership delivered that she should accept that honour.”
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 09:43
Tories choose partner of disgraced ex-MP Peter Bone to fight by-election to replace him
Mr Bone’s constituents used a recall petition to kick him out of parliament in December, after he was found to have indecently exposed himself to a staff member and trapped him in the bathroom of a hotel room.
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 09:10
Post Office should be stripped of role deciding compensation
The Post Office should be stripped of its role in deciding on compensation for those who were wrongly prosecuted because of flaws in its Horizon IT system, a member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board has said.
Professor Richard Moorhead, of the University of Exeter, said an independent body which may be able to take over that role already exists.
He told Times Radio: “We certainly think it is a bad idea that the Post Office has such a role in the compensation scheme.
“It obviously paints the wrong picture to the subpostmasters. We need a scheme which is, as fully as possible, independent from the Post Office.
“That could be done relatively straightforwardly. One of the compensation schemes is independent of the Post Office.
“It might be possible to move the cases across to there.”
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 08:56
Petition for Post Office boss to lose CBE over Horizon scandal hits one million
A petition calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to lose her CBE over the Horizon scandal has attracted more than one million signatures.
Demands for the Honours Forfeiture Committee to remove her CBE have emerged again after ITV aired a new drama into the scandal, which has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 08:36
Post Office scandal: Justice will be done ‘as quickly as possible’, minister says
Treasury minister Bim Afolami said the government is working “incredibly hard” to make sure that justice is done “as quickly as possible” for postmasters wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal.
“We are working incredibly hard to make sure that as quickly as possible justice is done, because I was as appalled as everybody else in the country was when I heard about this scandal,” he told LBC.
Mr Afolami said Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who served for a period as postal affairs minister in the coalition government, should “be honest with people” and explain why as a minister “he didn’t ask the right questions”.
Asked whether Sir Ed should consider his position, he said: “To be honest, I’m not one who goes around saying that (someone) needs to resign, but I do think he needs to do is he needs to be honest with people and explain why as a minister, he didn’t ask the right questions.”
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 08:35
Justice secretary to hold talks on speeding up compensation payments
The justice secretary will reportedly hold talks with another minister in his department to look at ways of speeding up compensation payments to victims of the Post Office scandal.
Alex Chalk is due to meet with Kevin Hollinrake, the Post Office minister, this morning as the scandal attracts significant media attention following the Mr Bates vs the Post Office TV dramatisation of the scandal.
More than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 08:27
Compensation happening at ‘snail’s pace’
Former workers wrongly accused of stealing from the Post Office have accused the government of issuing payments at a “snail’s pace”.
The prime minister said on Sunday that the government was examining ways to speed up the appeals process for wrongly convicted Post Office branch managers.
“What are you going to do to ensure we get fair and final compensation, not in dribs and drabs and not at a snail’s pace?” Sue Knight, a postmistress who lost everything after she was wrongly accused of theft, asked Mr Sunak during an appearance on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“Please stop making us still feel like victims.”
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 08:19
Post Office scandal victims could be exonerated, Rishi Sunak suggests
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 08:15
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage.
As MPs return to parliament following the Christmas holidays, we’ll be covering the continuing fallout from the Post Office scandal and other stories from Westminster and elsewhere.
Stay tuned for all the latest updates.
Matt Mathers8 January 2024 08:14