Post Office hero Alan Bates calls on ministers to ‘get on and pay’ victims

Post Office hero Alan Bates has pleaded with the Government to “get on and pay” victims of the Horizon scandal.

Hundreds of postmasters are nonetheless ready for compensation regardless of the guarantees of ministers, and attorneys warned some might nonetheless face waits of as much as two years. MPs heard the ultimate invoice for taxpayers more likely to high £1billion – with no deal but in place over how a lot software program agency Fujitsu pays.

Mr Bates, who has been main the marketing campaign for justice for 20 years, instructed MPs: “There’s a lot of distractions, a lot of other things brought up, thrown up all the time – but just get on and pay people.” He revealed that had thought-about getting all the previous subpostmasters concerned within the preliminary High Court case to “stand as MPs when the next election comes”, including: “Then we’ll sort it out once and for all.”

Questioned on whether or not he believed the Government had bought a grip of the method, Mr Bates mentioned: “No, I’m afraid not – it’s very disappointing. This has been going on for years, as you well know, and I can’t see any end to it.”

The Post Office mentioned 1,000 extra claims have been obtained since ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office was screened in January. Mr Bates, who was performed by Toby Jones within the sequence, instructed the cross-party Commons Business Committee that the Post Office must be offered.

He mentioned: “My personal view about Post Office is it’s a dead duck and it has been for years, and it’s going to be a money pit for the taxpayer in the years to come. You should sell it to someone like Amazon for £1, get really good contracts for all the serving subpostmasters and within a few years you’ll have one of the best networks around Britain.”

Mr Bates final month mentioned he’d rejected an “offensive” and “cruel” compensation supply from the Government. He mentioned the sum provided was solely “around a sixth” of what he requested.

Former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton, who has been locked in a bitter disagreement with Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, doubled down on his declare he was instructed to decelerate funds. Ms Badenoch has accused him of mendacity, however he instructed the committee he’d been made a “scapegoat”.

Mr Staunton, who was addressing the committee below oath, mentioned he denied making “politically incorrect” remarks. He claimed an investigation was ongoing into his conduct earlier than he was sacked final month. But he mentioned allegations had come to mild throughout a probe into chief government Nick Read. Mr Staunton additionally claimed that Mr Read had instructed him he deliberate to resign as a result of he wasn’t being paid sufficient – however former Business Secretary Grant Shapps refused to offer him a elevate.

In March final yr it emerged Mr Read’s wage was £415,000, and he was given a £455,000 bonus the next yr, a few of which he later returned. Labour MP Ian Lavery branded the organisation “rotten to the core” due to enormous gaps between the low salaries of postmasters and that of high bosses. He instructed bosses together with Mr Read: “Your bonuses on top of the hundreds of thousands of pounds in wages was 20 times more than their annual salary. Does this not really show how the Post Office is rotten to the core?”

Mr Read responded: “I’m not going to answer that question, clearly I’m clearly well paid and I’m clearly in a position where I’m trying to make sure that the commercial sustainability of the Post Office is going to be there for the next generation as well .”

The Horizon IT system ruined the lives of a whole bunch of Post Office staff when it mistakenly made it appear to be cash was lacking from their branches. Postmasters had been wrongly blamed for the shortfalls and made to cowl the losses, with greater than 900 convicted together with some who had been put in jail. Former sub-postmaster Tony Downey instructed MPs he’d left the UK after being declared bankrupt as a result of the Post Office had pursued him for over £20,000. He mentioned: “We were forced to sell the business, declared bankrupt. I had a nervous breakdown. We left the village to run away.”

MPs had been instructed that taxpayers are more likely to foot the invoice for as much as £1.2billion in compensation funds. Although Fujitsu has indicated it is keen to offer redress to postmasters, so sums have been agreed, the committee heard. So far round £160million has been paid in compensation to 2,700 folks by way of three completely different schemes, which works out at a median of £59,000 per claimant. Mr Read admitted that some victims could have accepted lower than they’re entitled to.

“We’re very keen and we’ve had a discussion with Government about an appeals process,” he mentioned.