Post Office Court of Appeal Judgment

Question

Will Mr Scully provide details of how many postmasters are still in prison, their total jail time, and the total legal costs incurred due to the Post Office's misconduct?

Question

Will the minister support the idea of a full statutory public inquiry into this matter?

Question

The hon. Member thanks the Minister for advance sight of his statement. She outlines a historical miscarriage of justice affecting over 900 postmasters, their families, and reputations. The Government’s delays in addressing these issues are criticised, alongside the lack of a proper statutory inquiry with subpoena powers. Questions are raised about the Post Office’s abuse of power, compensation for victims, and accountability of civil servants and Fujitsu. She urges the Minister to apologise and commit to a real public inquiry.

Question

The hon. Member questions why the issues arose in 1999 when the Post Office withdrew from a contract, resulting in one of the worst private finance initiatives ever. He cites investigative journalists and reports that highlight technical failures and communication problems between terminals and central systems. The need for attention to critical journalism rather than glossy reviews is emphasised.

Question

The hon. Member thanks the Minister for advance sight of his statement and emphasises the need for a direct apology from the Government, given their role as single shareholder in Post Office Ltd and civil servants on its board. She criticises Paula Vennells’ leadership during the period of failure with Horizon and calls for a statutory judge-led inquiry to hold all parties accountable. Further compensation is needed beyond legal costs incurred by sub-postmasters involved in civil actions against Post Office Ltd.

Question

Given the huge miscarriage of justice now fully exposed, including the 10-year attempted cover-up by the Post Office, will the Minister concede that only a full public inquiry and independent compensation panel for victims will now suffice finally to lance this boil?

Question

Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been wasted on pursuing unnecessary and unjust prosecutions. When will the Government order Post Office Ltd to call off its lawyers who have been instructed to search desperately for a defence to the indefensible?

Question

Some 555 sub-postmasters showed tremendous courage in the group litigation against the Post Office. Will the Minister ask his officials whether his Department authorised the Post Office to use millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to fight the sub-postmasters, and if not, why not?

Question

Will the Government commit to seeing former sub-postmasters as individuals and treating each case with importance for those who have faced more than a decade of accusations and legal difficulties due to the Post Office’s mismanagement?

Question

Although successful in group litigation, victims received only £15,000 compensation. Will the Minister consider looking behind the contractual position to actively compensate these people in full?

Question

People’s lives were ruined, with some tragically passing away before their names were cleared. Will the Government put in place a compensation scheme and heed calls for a proper public inquiry to get to the truth?

Question

What more can be done to prevent a similar miscarriage of justice from occurring in the future and how can we thank postal workers for their hard work throughout the pandemic?

Question

Will the Government heed calls for a proper public inquiry into what happened with powers to compel witnesses to give evidence under oath?

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Will the Minister take away our report on private prosecutors' role in justice systems to look at further recommendations to prevent such injustice from ever happening again?

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When is the Post Office going to be stripped of these prosecution powers and when will a fair dispute resolution process be put in place?

Question

Acknowledges the Minister's work but criticises the Government for not doing enough to address the human rights and civil liberties breach of up to 555 litigants. Questions why Lord Arbuthnot's evidence is not being loudly heard in the inquiry.

Question

Highlights the need for proper justice for all victims of the scandal by validating their claim under the historical shortfall scheme to prevent two tiers of justice.

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Asks for a full statutory public inquiry instead of a non-statutory one, suggesting that without powers to compel evidence and witnesses, the current inquiry will fail.

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Questions if there should be new provisions in the employment Bill to protect against similar circumstances of defective technology and recalcitrant employers.

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Questions why Government Members might be protected by resisting a statutory public inquiry, given that there has been no accountability for those involved in the scandal.

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Thanks Jay Patel and his family for their work in providing vital community services, asks the Minister to continue fighting for justice and compensation.

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Requests assurance from the Minister that full legal costs will be included in the compensation package for exonerated postmasters.

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Asks about mechanisms to compensate victims swiftly and fairly following recent court judgments.

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Highlights the injustice faced by postmasters, calls for full and fair compensation and an inquiry that holds those responsible accountable.

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Acknowledges the impact of the scandal on victims, praises Ian Ashworth for his work in Holyhead, asks for a commitment that this will never happen again.

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Calls for a full statutory inquiry instead of the current non-statutory one, suggesting it prolongs agony for victims.

Question

Will the Minister understand that there has to be compensation, and urgently, and this compensation has to cover not just the Horizon losses but the legal costs and the loss of business and income that people suffered from the damage to their reputation?

Question

This gross miscarriage of justice has taken a terrible toll not only on the wrongly convicted sub-postmasters who have endured so much suffering and struggled for so long to see justice, but on the local communities that rely on post offices as precious community resources. In the wake of this scandal, can the Minister tell us what steps the Government are taking to ensure that every community has easy access to a post office?

Question

Postmasters are coming under increasing pressure and workload as many banks turn their backs on the high streets, not least in the towns of Winslow, Princes Risborough and Buckingham in my constituency. Given that increased pressure and increased workload, will my hon. Friend recommit to holding the Post Office fully to account—not just to give justice to those affected by the Horizon debacle, but to fully support postmasters and win back trust?

Question

I pay tribute to my constituent, Mr John Bowman, who lost his home as well as his business, like the constituents of so many other Members across the House. One of the things that hurt him most, which he has talked about to me extensively, is the way in which the Post Office behaved; it simply looked to the criminal proceedings of those sub-postmasters, who, in the end, we now know had done nothing wrong. Will the Minister confirm that the current inquiry is expressly forbidden from looking at the Post Office’s prosecutorial function? Given this, will the Minister reconsider setting up a fully judicial inquiry into the scandal so that postmasters such as Mr Bowman get the justice they actually deserve?

Question

I have used this quote already in the Chamber today; Warren Buffett often says: “What we learn from history is that people don’t learn from history.” When we finally discovered the 10-year cover-up of a fraud at Lloyds, we inexplicably let Lloyds run its own compensation scheme, which three years later was determined to be not fair or reasonable, and we had to do it all again. Will my hon. Friend at least put in place independent oversight of this compensation scheme to ensure that all those who have suffered get fair, reasonable and consistent compensation, whether they have been through litigation or not?