Latest news with #HorizonScandal
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
MP takes Horspath village post office petition return to No.10
An Oxfordshire MP has presented a petition with more than 500 signatures, in parliament to get a local Post Office service back after it closed earlier this Dem Henley and Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo, along with residents from Horspath village, just outside of Oxford has been campaigning to get it branch closed in 2011 because of the Horizon scandal and the outreach service, operated by the Great Milton Post Office, opened at the Horspath Hub 3 years Post Office says alternative services are within its criteria of being 3 miles or less away. Judy Kent ran the outpost service from Great Milton before it closed and said "getting the petition in front of politicians is a big step".Ms Kent explained that the post office was "very important" to the community in said: "Not a day went by when one or more people didn't say to me 'thank goodness you're here'"."There was a core of our customers who are very vulnerable, who haven't got much mobility and simply can't get to these other post offices." She said the current proposal to expect customers to go from Horspath to Little Milton isn't "good enough".She said she hopes this gets turned around for the community but her optimism has been "up and down". "At the moment it's quite up and I have a lot more hope now," she added.A Post Office spokesperson said: "We apologise for any inconvenience that these two closures may cause."The Post Office has undertaken a comprehensive review of the network to ensure that it continues to meet evolving customer needs in a very challenging economic climate.""At this time we are not looking to replace Great Milton Post Office or Horspath Outreach Post Office where there have been declining customer sessions."The alternative branch for Great Milton Post Office is Little Milton, which is 1.4 miles away. "There are three branches within three miles for Horspath with the closest being 2.14 miles away at Wheatley, with other options of Woodfarm and Risinghurst. "These meet our access criteria for Post Office provision of 99% of the UK population being within 3 miles, and 90% within 1 mile of a Post Office." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Honorary degree for Post Office scandal campaigner Sir Alan Bates
Post Office scandal campaigner Sir Alan Bates will be awarded an honorary degree by the University of Alan spent more than two decades working to expose faulty Post Office accounting software which created shortfalls in sub postmaster accounts. The former Exeter resident was to join philanthropists, politicians, entrepreneurs and artificial intelligence pioneers being given honorary degrees this week, the university Alan said the recognition was an honour and thanked the university for its work investigating the impact of the Post Office Horizon scandal. "I feel very honoured to accept this honorary degree from Exeter," said Sir Alan. "Whilst it is many years since I have lived and worked in Exeter, I am well aware of the important work the University of Exeter Law School has undertaken to investigate the impact on the mental health of victims and the families of sub postmasters involved with the Post Office Horizon scandal." Other honorary degree recipients Former Green Party leader and co-leader Caroline LucasFormer Exeter MP and health minister Sir Ben BradshawFormer Conservative Party chair Baroness WarsiFormer Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Sajid JavidChief executive of the Met Office Professor Penny EndersbyBBC News analysis editor Ros AtkinsFounder of DeepLearning AI Andrew NgSecretary General of Medecins Sans Frontieres Christopher LockyearArts and culture coach and consultant Pippa WarinWriter Cheryl MorganEntrepreneur and philanthropist Erika Brodnock MBEPhilanthropist and former chair of Exeter's University Council Sarah TurvillChief executive of Advocates for International Development Yasmin Batliwala MBE A total of 6,348 students from 118 different countries are expected to graduate from nearly 170 courses at the university over the next two weeks. University president Professor Lisa Roberts said: "It is always so special to celebrate the amazing achievements of our graduating students with their loved ones, and wish them well as they embark on the next stage of their lives."We are also looking forward to celebrating the impact and achievements of our honorary graduates, who have made such an important contribution to society. Their work is truly inspiring, and we look forward to celebrating with them."
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- The Guardian
Self-serving Post Office bosses deserve nothing short of prison
So now we know – the Post Office Horizon scandal has not been about senior management's incompetence and their struggles to recognise that an expensive software programme might not have been all that it was cracked up to be. It has been a fundamental illustration of man's inhumanity to man, or, more precisely, it has shown just how self-serving and lacking in regard for employees senior managers have been and continue to be. Marina Hyde (Innocent subpostmasters went to jail, but now it is clear: the Post Office boss class belong there instead, 8 July) chilled my blood to the bone in describing how a postmistress made 256 calls to the helpdesk, but was still prosecuted and incarcerated, and missed her daughter's 18th birthday while in prison. She then had to endure her daughter's death a year later. Who on earth was so uninterested in the reason for so many calls, was so callous that they sat by while the postmistress was prosecuted? Hyde says the Post Office bosses should go to jail. This one example of their failure to question why so many employees were experiencing serious Horizon problems, their callous indifference, the industrial-scale cover-up, not to mention their collective amnesia of events during the inquiry, leads to only one conclusion – those bosses must be prosecuted and RobinsonLichfield Commentary on the Horizon scandal has focused on the shortcomings of Fujitsu and of the Post Office. I suggest the British judiciary must also take some responsibility. Something like 1,000 people were brought before the courts, charged with stealing huge sums of money. There was no direct evidence against them. No one could show where the money had gone; there was no sign of the accused people developing an expensive lifestyle – most could not even afford lawyers to defend them. The only evidence came from a software system that could not be cross-examined. Why did the judges allow these cases to proceed? They must, or should, have known about the hundreds of almost identical cases being prosecuted across the country. What has become of the principle of being judged guilty beyond reasonable doubt?Alan RobinsonGriffydam, Leicestershire This debacle has ruined so many lives and the perpetrators have yet to face any meaningful sanctions beyond public ignominy. Do we really have to wait for completion of the public inquiry before criminal proceedings can be started? The government should be ashamed at dragging its feet and further punishing the victims with the snail's pace of agreeing compensation. David FeltonWistaston, Cheshire Wasn't there at least one person in the Post Office hierarchy who thought, 'Hang on a minute, aren't there a disproportionate number of people suddenly apparently stealing?' Or were they all so in thrall to new technology, and being courted by Fujitsu, that common sense flew out the window?Terry StoneSouthend-on-Sea, Essex Marina Hyde's review of the scandal was, again, upsetting. A year or so ago, I felt it necessary to email Fujitsu's CEO, Takahito Tokita. I said his company should provide immediate and substantial compensation as a matter of honour, but primarily because it was at fault. I'm still awaiting a reply. Paul GarrodSouthsea, Hampshire What we didn't learn from the inquiry report – where did the money go (Post Office Horizon IT scandal: five things we learned from the report, 8 July)?Sarah Walker and Barrie de LaraNorwich Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Telegraph
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Civil servants accused of fresh Post Office cover-up
Senior civil servants have been accused of covering up a report that could have exonerated sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft. According to newly released emails, government officials removed any reference to a secret report that contained 'explosive' evidence about vulnerabilities in the Horizon computer system and bullying by Post Office prosecutors in correspondence with the National Audit Office (NAO). The report, which was compiled by Sir Jonathan Swift KC in 2016, was previously found to have been buried by the Post Office as it prepared to fight a legal case against more than 500 former sub-postmasters. However, The Telegraph can now reveal that civil servants at the UK Government Investments (UKGI) department, which manages the state shareholding in the Post Office, also kept the Swift review secret from the NAO. The revelation comes after the official inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal said it was likely 13 people took their own lives as a result of the miscarriage of justice. Sir Wyn Williams, the chairman of the public inquiry, said Post Office bosses knew Fujitsu's Horizon software was faulty but had 'maintained the fiction' that a version of it 'was always, always accurate'. In emails seen by The Telegraph from November 2018, UKGI officials recommended deleting reference to the Swift review in correspondence with the National Audit Office (NAO), the Government's financial watchdog. The Swift review was critical of the Post Office's tactic of pressuring sub-postmasters into pleading guilty to false accounting. The NAO asked UKGI for information while it was investigating the Post Office's decision to use public money to defend a lawsuit led by the former postmasters in 2018. This prompted immediate concern among UKGI officials, who raised fears internally about how documents could be used. Following a meeting to discuss the issue, a UKGI official sent an email to Richard Callard, head of risk and compliance, and Richard Watson, UKGI's general counsel, that said: 'I would not include specific reference to Jonathan Swift in the timeline for the NAO as I am not sure this was made public. 'Just say the Chair (Tim Parker) undertook a review, and that when you talk to the NAO, you can say you understand he took some independent legal advice as part of it or something.' Two minutes later, Mr Watson replied: 'I would just remove the reference entirely. As I understand it, the Swift review was never concluded.' Soon after, the UKGI civil servant responded: 'Thanks Richard. I will remove the Swift review then.' The Government has since claimed that UKGI did not have access to the Swift report until 2020. However, officials' awareness of its existence and decision to delete reference to it will raise questions about their decision-making, particularly as lawyers and former ministers claim that suppression of the Swift Report contributed to the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history. 'This new disclosure is very important,' said Paul Marshall, a barrister who acted for three sub-postmasters in their appeals against their criminal convictions. 'It tends to confirm a view I have held for a long time that it is possible the Government and civil servants were complicit in a cover-up.' It will also support claims by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, a former Post Office minister, who previously told a government inquiry that the 'explosive' Swift review had been 'buried and suppressed'. 'Airbrushed from the narrative' The internal UKGI emails were obtained by Eleanor Shaikh, a teaching assistant who has campaigned for justice for the sub-postmasters, under the Freedom of Information Act. She told The Telegraph: 'Instead of an impartial and transparent response to the NAO, the UKGI officials buried a document which threatened the very foundation of the Post Office's defence. Their carefully crafted communications allowed for plausible deniability. 'They knew the Swift review existed but actively colluded to airbrush it from the narrative. They were acting in the interests not of justice but of the Government.'
Telegraph
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Post Office bosses must be held to account for the Horizon scandal
SIR – Senior individuals at the Post Office knew of flaws in the Horizon IT system, yet they let employees go to prison for crimes they did not commit ('Horizon scandal drove 13 people to suicide', report, July 9). These people must not go unpunished. Corporate guilt should not be used as a shelter. Custodial sentences might go some way towards discouraging any repetition of such behaviour in both the public and private sectors. Dr Robert J Leeming Coventry, Warwickshire SIR – Unless those responsible for this appalling scandal are brought to justice, confidence in law and order in our country will be destroyed. Jonathan Fogg Loulé, Algarve, Portugal SIR – What kind of legal system finds hundreds of innocent people guilty? Douglas Jenkinson Nottingham SIR – The public inquiry report published on Tuesday contains damning evidence that the Government and the Post Office are stalling instead of paying compensation to sub-postmasters. Haven't these people been through enough? Or will it take another television drama to deliver what's right? Brett Trafford Bramley, Hampshire SIR – If compensation is not paid soon, some claimants will die before justice is done. Shame on Great Britain. Adrian Lloyd-Edwards Dartmouth, Devon SIR – Fujitsu was responsible for the Horizon software, and the defects that led to erroneous accusations of false accounting. The company should be required to pay a share of the compensation due to the victims. Richard Watts Cholsey, Oxfordshire SIR – After nearly five years, Sir Wyn Williams, chairman of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, has found that the scandal has had a 'disastrous' impact on those wrongly accused and prosecuted for criminal offences. Our statutory inquiry system is a gravy train for the legal community, and a convenient way for politicians to bat difficult issues into the long grass. How much money has been spent on this inquiry? How much have all the solicitors and barristers pocketed? What have any of our politicians achieved? Meanwhile, many people whose lives were ruined are yet to receive proper compensation. Tim Spurry Mansfield, Nottinghamshire SIR – I wonder when Sir Ed Davey will be held to account for his failure to act on the Horizon scandal when he was postal affairs minister. Michael Wilkinson East Sheen, Surrey
