The party vows to deliver justice for the wronged subpostmasters in their election manifesto.
The Liberal Democrats have pledged to compensate the victims of the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, an issue that has affected their leader, Sir Ed Davey. The scandal, which spanned from 1999 to 2015, saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted due to a faulty IT system that made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.
Sir Ed, who served as postal affairs minister between 2010 and 2012 under the coalition government, has faced criticism for his role during the crisis. He has been accused of not doing enough to assist the wrongfully convicted subpostmasters at the time. The issue has resurfaced recently, with Davey set to give evidence at the Horizon IT inquiry on July 18.
The party’s election manifesto, launched earlier this week, centred on health and care but included a promise on page 101 to ensure full and fair compensation for the victims of both the Horizon and Infected Blood scandals. Despite a government commitment to pay £600,000 to those whose convictions were quashed, many subpostmasters are still waiting for compensation.
Alan Bates, a key campaigner for justice for the subpostmasters, has criticised Sir Ed for initially refusing to meet with him in 2010, a revelation that has prompted some calls from Conservative MPs for Davey to step down and even return his knighthood.
In response, Davey expressed regret for not acting sooner and apologised for failing to see through the Post Office’s misleading claims. He emphasised that he, along with other ministers, was deceived by the Post Office on a large scale. Sir Ed defended his actions, stating that it was difficult to discern the truth in such a complex and busy government system. He also pointed out that he was not the only postal minister during the scandal and that it was unfair for him to be singled out.
Davey’s party has reiterated that his role as a minister was just one part of a broader issue involving successive postal ministers from all the major political parties.
