It has been a while since an update was sent however there has been some developments over the past few months. I think one of the most important being the launch of 'The Great Post Office Scandal' book by Nick Wallis who has pursued this story for over 10 years. It is available on Amazon, from Bath Publishing directly and from many bookstores up and down the country. 10% of all sales of the book will go to a charity trust fund setup to help the affected Sub Postmasters. You can buy a copy below :-
https://bathpublishing.com/products/the-great-post-office-scandal
Over the past few weeks more convictions have been overturned at the Court of Appeal taking the total number to 72. There are still more than 600 awaiting review! You think you know the worst of it and then you hear all these new stories in the press and it makes you realise just how widespread this has all been. See below a few extracts of these recent stories :-
On Wednesday GB News ran an hour long special to highlight the scandal. It is probably the most comprehensive overview hearing from a number of people fighting for justice on behalf of those affected. I did a short piece remotely via zoom to start off the program and then Janet Bradbury, Nick Wallis, Lord Arbuthnot and David Enright of Howe & Co solicitors took the rest of the program. You cannot help but have huge admiration for both Nick and Lord Arbuthnot for their determination to expose this scandal. James Arbuthnot was scathing of his own government for their failures to offer redress to the victims. You can watch the entire show below (fast forward to 2 hours, 7 minutes and 45 seconds :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYlT-DwEJEI
Recently the Statutory Inquiry into the Post Office Horizon Scandal held its first public hearing where a number well respected participants put across their views for what the Inquiry should look into. The Inquiry Chairman Sir Wyn Williams asked Fujitsu, UKGI, BEIS and Post Office to waive legal privilege on documents over the years to help determine who was responsible for this disaster and what kind of legal advice was provided. All parties agreed to this request eventually, although Post Office said it could not waive privilege to documents that relate to ongoing Court of Appeal hearings and those involved in the Historical Shortfall Scheme. Lets see if they all co-operate fully or if they try their usual tricks to cover-up the real truth! Alan Bates of the JFSA had recently asked members to withdraw from the Inquiry as the final list of issues did not mention anything about the compensation received for the 555 who originally exposed this entire scandal in the High Court back in 2019. After withdrawing as a core participant the Inquiry Chair wrote to the JFSA claiming that issue number 183 was to include the compensation awarded to that group. It said:
“On behalf of the chair, Sir Wyn Williams, I can confirm that paragraph 183 of the Inquiry’s List of Issues is intended to consider whether all affected sub-postmasters, sub-postmistresses, managers, assistants, including the 555 Claimants in the group litigation of Alan Bates and Others vs Post Office case were adequately compensated for the wrongs they had suffered.”
You can see the full list of issues below that the Inquiry will address and also another link that shows the video of the first public hearing which is just under 2 hours long, but well worth watching in your spare time. You might be particularly interested in Calum Greenhow of the NFSP whose organisation completely abandoned its members over the years and always agreed with Post Office that Horizon was robust and the Sub Postmasters were guilty, see how they have changed their tune to save their reputation.
https://www.postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk/key-documents/provisional-list-issues
It appears to me that the promises made by Boris Johnson Prime Minister and Paul Scully MP as Business minister that they would go away and look at the compensation for all affected including those in the litigation seems to have been nothing but a PR exercise. Paul Scully stated he wanted to go away and look at it and quickly because those affected have suffered and waited long enough already. Here we are 7 months later and the words and letters coming from that same minister is that the 2019 settlement was 'Full and Final'. What people forget is that without that High Court Litigation Post Office would still be able to get away with their story that Horizon is robust and the cover-up would be continuing. We would not have seen 72 convictions quashed, the Historical Shortfall Scheme setup and the start of the Statutory Inquiry without it. Yet those 555 are denied access to compensation unlike those who waited in the background and are now accessing full compensation via the scheme which is set to cost Post Office over £330 million pounds (ultimately taxpayers - as government has provided the funds to bail out a bankrupt Post Office). Now it seems this group is going to have to wait until the end of the inquiry for the government to finally act and provide compensation to everyone. The Inquiry is due to report in the Autumn of 2022 but with the amount of work involved this will probably drag on into 2023, the fact that the government solicitors working on their behalf have been contracted and paid until 2023 tells you everything you need to know!
The part I fear most is that some people in the group just might not see that day. Lets hope I am wrong!