It has been claimed that ministers in David Cameron's administration were told that Post Office bosses had abandoned a secret investigation that could have helped prove the postmaster's innocence while continuing to deny that the Horizon computer system was defective.
A 2016 internal investigation into how and why cash accounts in the Horizon IT system had been manipulated – spanning 17 years of records – was suddenly dropped after postmasters took legal action.
According to the BBC, ministers in Cameron's administration were told that Post Office bosses had dropped the investigation, while denying that Horizon's computer system was faulty.
Despite the investigation, the organization still argued in court two years later that it was impossible for Fujitsu to remotely access subpostmaster accounts.
More than 700 branch managers were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made money appear to be missing from their stores.
Hundreds of submasters and subpostmasters are still waiting for compensation despite the government announcing that those who have had their convictions quashed are entitled to payments of £600,000.
(PA Wire)
But the latest revelations raise questions about how long ministers had been aware of the possibility of remote access and why the government did nothing to stop the Post Office saying Fujitsu could not tamper with the branch manager's accounts.
Documents obtained by the bbc show how the secret 2016 investigation into Fujitsu's use of remote access emerged from a review by former senior Treasury lawyer Jonathan Swift QC, which had been approved by then business secretary Sajid Javid.
But in June of that year, when the subpostmasters launched their legal action, Post Office Minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe informed the government that the investigation had been dropped on “very strong advice” from the senior lawyer representing them. .
There is no evidence in the documents that then-Prime Minister Cameron was personally aware of the investigation or that it had been abandoned.
A spokesman for Lord Cameron recalled his previous comments by saying he did not remember being briefed about the Horizon scandal while he was prime minister.
The foreign secretary, who was ranked 10th between 2010 and 2016, said in January: “I do not remember being briefed in any detail or being aware of the magnitude of this problem.”
He added that anyone who has been involved in government over the past two decades had to be “very sorry” for the miscarriage of justice.
The revelations follow a series of explosive interactions between former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton and current Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, when Staunton accused Kemi Badenoch of making “a stunning series of claims” and mischaracterizations. after she told MPs that he had spread “Invented Anecdotes” following her dismissal.
The former head of the post office has said he had been ordered to delay paying compensation to postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.
In a statement to the House of Commons, the business secretary said there was “no evidence” for his account and called it “a blatant attempt to seek revenge” for his dismissal.
He also claimed he was being investigated over bullying allegations before he was fired as president, and that concerns were raised about his “willingness to cooperate” with the investigation.
Later on Monday, a spokesperson for Staunton said Badenoch had made a “staggering series of claims” about the saga.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch rejected what Henry Staunton said in an interview with the Sunday Times.
(PA Wire)
In a statement given to reporters, they said he had recorded the comment about delaying compensation “at the time in a file note he emailed to himself and colleagues and which can therefore be traced.” on the mail server”.
In relation to the investigation into alleged harassment, the spokesperson said: “This is the first time that the existence of such allegations has been raised and Mr Staunton is not aware of any aspect of his conduct that would give rise to such allegations.
“They were certainly not raised by the Secretary of State at any time and certainly not during the conversation that led to Mr Staunton's dismissal. In any case, such behavior would be totally out of character.”
Mr Staunton, who was sacked by the Business Secretary last month, had used a sunday time interview to suggest that the alleged request to delay payments was related to concerns about the cost of compensation for the Horizon scandal ahead of the election.
Ms Badenoch had said allegations relating to Mr Staunton's conduct, including “serious matters such as harassment”, were being examined and that concerns had also been raised about his “willingness to co-operate” with the formal investigation.
In his speech in the House of Commons, he also described it as “so disappointing that he has chosen to spread a series of falsehoods, provide fabricated anecdotes to journalists and leak debates kept in secret.”
Mrs Badenoch claimed that in her mind she had confirmed that “I made the right decision in dismissing him”.
Ministers face questions after former Post Office chairman's claims
(PA Wire)
For Labour, shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said ministers must ensure claims that the government had attempted to stop Horizon compensation payments “are proven false in unequivocal terms”.
He said: “However, we now have two completely opposite accounts, one from the Chairman of the Post Office and one from the Secretary of State, and only one of these accounts can be the truth.”
Ms Badenoch reiterated her denial of the claims, saying: “We would gain no benefit from delaying compensation.
“This has no significant impact on revenue. “It would be crazy to even suggest it, and the compensation plan that Mr. Staunton oversaw was actually completed, and my understanding is that 100 percent of the payments have been made, so clearly no instructions were given.”
Business committee chairman Liam Byrne told BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “What we could do without at the moment is a war of words between the Secretary of State and the former president, what we really need is for ministers to write checks to the hundreds of subpostmasters who need fixing, and they too have been waiting a long time.”
Byrne said he “hopes” he can obtain a contemporaneous note that Staunton kept after receiving the so-called “go slow” order.
He added: “Yesterday I invited Mr Staunton to appear before the committee next week, and today we will send the documents we need to try to get to the truth.
“The most important thing is that we will send that note that Mr. Staunton says he wrote and which sets out the go slow order that he says he received from senior public officials… but of which the Secretary of State claimed to have no knowledge yesterday” .
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay gave his backing to the Business Secretary and said the Government was focused on ensuring justice for subpostmasters caught up in the Horizon scandal.
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay defended the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
(PENNSYLVANIA)
He told Times Radio that Ms Badenoch is “someone who has an absolute commitment to doing right by those who have suffered what is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice our country has seen, and also in terms of the importance of the statements to the House of Commons. “That is something any minister who makes a statement takes very seriously.”
When asked if he believed in Kemi Badenoch, he replied: “Yes.”
