Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Post Office scandal Ed: I apologised to Mr Bates
Davey also claims executives lied
ED Davey says he has apologised to hero campaigner Alan Bates and accused ex-post Office bosses of lying on an “industrial scale”.
Former sub-postmaster Mr Bates told the inquiry into the Horizon scandal last week he took offence to a 2010 response from Sir Ed, who was Postal Affairs Ministers from 2010 to 2012.
He said a letter from the minister, about sub-postmasters being falsely accused of fraud due to faulty accounting software, appeared to be a template.
Sir Ed, now Lib Dem leader, said yesterday: “I’ve apologised to him already. I was in office for 11 days and was asked whether I would meet him.
“I was told the tradition had been that we didn’t meet people because the Post Office was run by Post Office executives. “It was an arm’s-length relationship. “Then he wrote back to me, and the officials told me the letter was pretty tough, which we heard at the Inquiry, and I agreed that I should meet him.”
Sir Ed said he was the first Post Office minister to meet Mr Bates, and found him to be an “amazing guy”.
Sir Ed said he then relayed concerns about remote access to the Horizon IT system to Post Office executives and was told there was none. He added: “What’s so shocking... is that they knew all along there was remote access.
“So they must have lied to me, to previous ministers, to ministers after me. They lied not just to the sub-postmasters but to the courts. This was lies on an industrial scale.” He said those responsible should be prosecuted.
At the inquiry yesterday, Horizon’s former chief operating officer David Miller denied having read an expert’s damning report on the Horizon system.