Post Office victory one step closer
Laws to clear innocent introduced today but compo cash not expected until July
NEW laws to clear the names of hundreds of sub-postmasters will be introduced today but still need to go through Parliament.
The legislation will exonerate victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal after years of Tory dithering.
The Government says it wants the laws in place by July, with compensation paid as soon as possible after convictions are overturned.
More than 700 sub-postmasters had their lives ruined after the faulty Horizon computer system made it look like money was missing from their branches.
Public anger rose after ITV’s Mr Bates Vs The Post Office aired in January.
Under the landmark legislation, a £75,000 payment will be extended so subpostmasters who weren’t convicted but who suffered as a result of the scandal can be compensated.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We owe it to the victims who have had their lives callously torn apart, to deliver the justice they’ve fought so long for, and to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”
Campaigner and former sub-postmaster Alan Bates last month pleaded with MPs to “get on and pay”. Those whose convictions are overturned will get an interim payment and will be offered a final settlement of £600,000, but if they reject that there is a process to apply for more. So far around £179million has been paid to more than 2,800 victims. The laws only apply to England and Wales and talks are ongoing in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Everyone who is compensated will have to sign a statement saying they did not commit the crime, and could be charged with fraud if they are later found to have lied. Labour MP Kevan Jones, a member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board, said: “It is essential we get this bill passed before summer recess.” The Law Society, which represents solicitors, warned against treating the scheme as a precedent for intervention in the judiciary. President of the society Nick Emmerson said: “An exceptional scheme such as this can only be justified by extraordinary circumstances.”