Post Office failure of respect over Horizon scandal must change – Carmichael

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today spoken in the first parliamentary business on the Post Office Horizon scandal, questioning the incoming Labour minister on the evidence of a change of culture at the Post Office. Speaking from the frontbench for the Liberal Democrats, Mr Carmichael highlighted the failure of respect from Post Office executives for the work of sub-postmasters.

Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted after a faulty computer system called Horizon made it look like money was missing from their branches. Some sub-postmasters wrongfully went to prison, many were financially ruined. Some have since died, including Orkney sub-postmistress Elena Kimmett, who was not prosecuted but paid for shortfalls from her own pocket.

Speaking in the House, Mr Carmichael said:

“It is a genuine pleasure as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson to be addressing the House on behalf of the third largest political grouping. My party will use the privilege of this position to hold the government and ministers to account. We will not be using it simply to stoke division and manufacture grievance. That is what the people of the United Kingdom, and Scotland in particular, voted for.

“At the heart of the Horizon scandal there was a culture at the centre of the organisation which failed to respect the work that had been done by sub-postmasters at the front line. When the minister and the Secretary of State meet with the Chief Executive of the Post Office, what evidence are they seeing that that culture has actually changed?”

Responding for the government, the Minister of State for Business and Trade, Justin Madders MP said:

“The current Post Office CEO has actually stepped aside for a brief period to concentrate on the enquiry, and I think that those very important questions that he has raised will be things that we will be reflecting on over the coming months, particularly when the outcome of the enquiry is known.”

Reacting after the exchange, Mr Carmichael said:

“Delivering justice for everyone affected by the Horizon scandal should be a priority for all sides of Parliament. The previous Government moved far too slowly on compensation so incoming ministers must act more urgently to redress this miscarriage of justice, with a process independent of the Post Office leadership.

“The Post Office is a publicly owned body but its culture has often fallen short of the standards we should expect. The only way that the public are going to have their faith restored in the Post Office and the wider government approach to justice is through absolute transparency. We need a complete commitment to swift and comprehensive justice for postmasters now.”