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Campaigner Alan Bates, speaking at a public inquiry into the Horizon scandal, said the Post Office was a “nefarious organization” and “needs to be disbanded”.
The former sub-postmaster general, who has fought for more than 20 years to uncover the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, also spoke about the indifference of government ministers and the Post Office’s attempts to cover up the scandal.
The investigation, chaired by Sir Wynne Williams, is currently in its fifth stage and will hear from key witnesses including former Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier and former chief executive Paula Vennels. is also planned.
Here are six things we learned from the evidence presented by Mr. Bates on Tuesday.
1. Ed Davey refused to meet Alan Bates in 2010
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey wrote a letter in 2010 refusing to meet with Mr Bates.
When Mr Bates wrote to Mr Davey explaining how sub-postmaster generals were suffering as a result of the Horizon incident and asking for a face-to-face meeting, Mr Davey, the Coalition government’s newly appointed postal minister, was.
I received a short response from Mr. Davie saying he was declining the invitation on the grounds that the government had an “arms-length relationship” with the Post Office and was its sole shareholder, but could not “interfere” with its commercial operations. .
In a witness statement shared during Tuesday’s public inquiry, Mr Bates said he found the letter “disappointing and offensive”.
Mr Davie and Mr Bates finally met five months later, but Mr Bates said he did not remember anything useful happening after that.
2. Public officials told Davey not to comment on Horizon.
The investigation identified a briefing memo prepared by a civil servant on Mr Davey’s behalf, in which he said a meeting was agreed on “spurious grounds” as Channel 4 appeared to be preparing to broadcast a TV documentary about the scandal. Mr. Davy was informed.
Mr Davey was advised to tell Mr Bates that he could not comment in detail due to the impending legal proceedings.
![Six Things We Learned From Alan Bates At The Post Office Horizon Inquiry 2 Screen captures from the Post Office Horizon IT investigation by former deputy postmaster and chief campaigner Alan Bates showing evidence of stage four of the investigation at Aldwych House in central London. Publication date: Tuesday, April 9, 2024. PA Photo. See PA's story 'POLITICS Horizon'. Photo credit goes to: Post Office Horizon IT Question/PA Wire Note to editors: The photos in this handout are taken from the images of events, objects, people, or facts mentioned in the captions. May only be used for editorial reporting purposes to illustrate the same time. Reuse of images may require further permission from the copyright holder.](https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SEI_199159130.jpg?w=760)
Asked in 2010 why he was angry about Sir Ed’s letter, the former sub-postmaster general said: Jason Beer, KC’s investigating defense attorney, said:
“The government was the only shareholder and they themselves were the owners of all this.
“How can you run an organization or take responsibility for it without caring about it or trying to manage it?”
In response to this criticism, a Liberal Democratic Party spokesperson said: “Alan Bates is a hero for everything he has done to represent the Postmaster General through this horrific miscarriage of justice.
“Ed was the first minister to meet Mr Bates and take his concerns to the Post Office and the Postmasters Federation, but Ed, like Mr Bates and many other ministers, was deceived.
“No one knew the scale of these lies until years later when a Fujitsu whistleblower revealed the truth.
“Ed says he didn’t see through the Post Office’s lies and is disappointed that it took him five months to meet Mr. Bates.”
3. The government was “responsible” for the post office.
Alan Bates said the government needed to take “responsibility” for its role in the Horizon incident after “pumping huge sums of money” into the Post Office.
He told the inquiry: “The government pumped huge sums of money into the Post Office every year and they need to be held accountable.
“They need to seriously address what happened.
“It was very difficult to get them involved in it. Nowadays, they don’t, but these days they have a little bit of interest. But back then, it was very difficult to get the government to take them seriously.”
4. ‘Surprised’ Paula Vennels didn’t intervene
The investigation found that Mr Bates had written to the Post Office’s former chief executive Paula Vennels in 2013 and that she had not requested a meeting, despite the fact revealed by forensic accountants Second Sight. It was also heard that he expressed surprise at this.
In an email to Vennels, Bates said:
“Most of the issues started under the previous regime, and we appreciate JSFA’s commitment to addressing the issues of concern. [Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance] have been raised, but these issues still persist.
“I have little doubt that it is now possible to prove that many of the charges that the Postal Service has pressed should never have happened.”
![Six Things We Learned From Alan Bates At The Post Office Horizon Inquiry 3 For editorial use only File photo dated 13/05/13 of former Postmaster General Paula Vennels returning her CBE in the aftermath of the Horizon IT scandal that led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters . The former chief executive, who ran the post office while regularly denying there were problems with Horizon IT systems, was appointed CBE in December 2018. Publication date: Monday, May 13, 2013. PA photo. See PA's story 'POLITICS Horizon'. Photo credit: Jeremy Durkin/PA Wire](https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SEI_186550208.jpg?w=760)
5. Post Office “Chase me somehow”
Mr Bates previously told the inquiry he believed his contract as deputy postmaster was terminated because the Post Office “didn’t like the way I stood up to them”.
The Post Office IT Investigation Unit heard that Mr Bates received a redundancy letter in 2003 which did not give a reason for his dismissal.
When asked what he believed was the reason for his dismissal, Bates replied: b) They felt it was awkward. c) I don’t think they could answer these questions and they felt I would continue to do so. ”
When asked how he felt when he received the termination letter, Bates said with a laugh: Or something else, and the accumulation of correspondence during this period certainly pointed in that direction. ”
In a witness statement to the inquiry, Mr Bates said the 23 years he had campaigned had been spent by the Post Office “trying to deny, lie, defend, discredit and silence me”. said.
He said: “Before and after I left the branch, I have spent the last 23 years fighting for truth and justice, not just for myself, but for the entire group of wronged and wrongfully convicted subpostmasters.” “I have spent my time campaigning to expose this.”
A Postal Service spokesperson said: “The Postal Service is deeply sorry for the hurt and suffering caused to the victims and their loved ones and is working hard to ensure that they receive the justice and relief they deserve. We are committed to providing compensation.” He has so far paid more than £179m to around 2,800 postmasters. We are committed to ensuring that the mistakes of the past are not repeated, and we are committed to getting to the bottom of what happened. ”
6. The post office has “been beyond saving”
Alan Bates said the Post Office was a “nefarious organization” that was “beyond savings” and should be sold to Amazon.
![Six Things We Learned From Alan Bates At The Post Office Horizon Inquiry 4 LONDON, UK - APRIL 9: Former Postmaster General Alan Bates arrives at the Post Office Public Inquiry at Aldwych House on April 9, 2024 in London, England. The former subpostmaster and founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance is due to be questioned in stages five or six of the independent public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal. In January, British Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the government would introduce new laws. "Promptly exonerate victims and compensate them" A case in which postal workers were unfairly prosecuted for 16 years starting just before the new millennium. From 1999 to 2015, more than 700 post office branch managers were convicted, and some were sent to prison, after a flaw in the Horizon IT system made it appear that funds were missing from the branch manager's site. It was done. A recent television documentary drama has brought this issue back into the spotlight. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)](https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/SEI_199143131_57a1b8.jpg?w=760)
When asked for his thoughts on the culture of the Post Office, a former sub-postmaster told the inquiry:
“They need to be disbanded. They need to be removed. They need to be rebuilt from the ground floor up.
“The entire postal service today is a dead duck. It’s beyond saving.
“We need to sell to places like Amazon. That requires a really large injection of capital, and I think that can only happen with an influx from outside.
“Otherwise, it will be a thorn in the side of government for years to come.”