Tony Blair wished to stay with Post Office’s flawed Horizon system
Tony Blair was warned that ditching the flawed Horizon system would have ‘profound implications’ for the UK’s relations with Japan, paperwork present.
Then prime minister, he stated he favoured urgent forward with Fujitsu’s software program for the Post Office regardless of being warned it had been ‘plagued with issues’.
Notes from 1998 present the prime minister was warned by the UK’s ambassador to Japan that abandoning the deal, agreed underneath John Major‘s Conservative authorities, would have ‘profound implications… for bilateral ties’ with Tokyo.
Sir Geoff Mulgan, a No 10 adviser to Sir Tony, instructed the Sunday Telegraph {that a} reluctance to pressure relations with Japan ‘had a giant affect’ on decision-making over Horizon.
In one other memo that 12 months, Sir Geoff warned the prime minister: ‘Overall, Horizon now seems more and more flawed.’
Tony Blair (pictured) was warned that ditching the flawed Horizon system would have ‘profound implications’ for the UK’s relations with Japan , paperwork present
A Horizon system that was designed to file the transactions carried out in Post Office branches
He added: ‘Fujitsu have supplied the monetary dedication to safe a deal. This is an indication of how vital the mission is for them.’ The then Labour chief wrote that the first concern was the system’s technical functionality, including: ‘The dangers are fairly even, in all probability coming down on the aspect of continuous.’
The then commerce and business secretary Peter Mandelson, in a memo, stated he believed the ‘solely good selection is to proceed with the Horizon mission’, as a result of it provided the least threat. He wrote of the potential affect of tearing up the settlement: ‘Our relations with Fujitsu, a serious inward investor into the UK over the previous decade, could be severely broken.’ The flawed accounting software program led to the prosecution of lots of of subpostmasters.
A spokesman for Sir Tony stated: ‘In respect of the problem of the connection with Japan, as [Sir Tony] made clear in his proof to the (public) inquiry, that was certainly one of a lot of components. It is now clear that the Horizon product was critically flawed, resulting in tragic and utterly unacceptable penalties, and [Sir Tony] has deep sympathy with all these affected.’
The revelations got here as Lord Cameron instructed Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that he didn’t recall being briefed in regards to the scandal in his time as prime minister, from 2010 to 2016.
