Post Office reside – Campaign hero Alan Bates to provide proof to MPs over scandal
MPs will grill campaigning ex-postmasters and a high Post Office boss over the Horizon IT scandal that ruined the lives of tons of of harmless staff.
Scandal victims Alan Bates and Jo Hamilton will give proof to the Commons Business and Trade Committee right this moment on their combat for justice after being wrongly accused of swindling money resulting from a defective IT system. The Committee can even query Post Office boss Nick Read and Paul Patterson, Chief Executive for Europe for Fujitsu, the agency that developed the Horizon software program.
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake can even seem earlier than MPs after he referred to as for these accountable for the scandal to be jailed. The bumper session comes after ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’ ignited a ferocious backlash over the scandal. Under intense public strain to clear the names of the victims of the widest miscarriage of justice in British historical past, Rishi Sunak unveiled plans final week to swiftly exonerate and compensate these affected.
The official public Inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal can even run on the similar time, with officers from Fujitsu giving proof below oath. The scandal noticed greater than 700 subpostmasters and subpostmistresses handed felony convictions after Fujitsu’s defective Horizon software program made it seem as if cash was lacking at their branches.
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125,000 signal our petition to provide Alan Bates a knighthood
More than 125,000 individuals have now signed our petition demanding that Alan Bates be honoured with a CBE or a knighthood for exposing the Post Office scandal which ruined the lives of tons of of individuals.
The former postmaster, who led the decades-long combat for justice, had beforehand turned down an OBE as he believed it could be a “slap in the face” to the victims to just accept an honour whereas ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells nonetheless held her CBE. But after she handed again her gong, campaigners have mentioned he ought to be recognised with the identical honour himself – if not a knighthood.
Honours are normally introduced to mark the New Year and the Monarch’s birthday, however in particular circumstances, they will also be awarded at different occasions. Our petition reached 100,000 signatures simply days after we launched it.
Sign our petition HERE to provide Post Office hero Alan Bates an honour
How ITV drama turned Alan Bates right into a nationwide treasure
Alan Bates has turn out to be a nationwide treasure after tens of millions watched his lengthy and painful combat for justice portrayed within the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
He has campaigned tirelessly for 20 years to show the reality concerning the Post Office scandal and get justice for subpostmasters whose lives it destroyed.
He and his associate Suzanne Sercombe took over a store in Llandudno that included a submit workplace counter in 1998, investing £65,000 within the enterprise. But his contract was terminated in 2003 after the introduction of the Post Office’s new Horizon laptop system led to unexplained losses showing in his accounts.
He led a bunch of greater than 500 postmasters in taking the Post Office to the High Court.
