The Post Office scandal has been brought to the public’s attention by the excellent ITV drama ‘Mr Bates Versus the Post Office’. Although I was aware of the scandal, the programme highlighted that this is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice the UK has ever seen, with a cover-up on a huge scale.
There has been a lot of discussion in the media about the Post Office’s role in prosecuting innocent people, making them pay back huge sums of money that they didn’t owe, wrecking lives, and covering up the mistakes, when they knew there was a problem with the Horizon system. However there has been less coverage of Fujitsu’s part in all of this.
The people whose lives were wrecked by the actions of the Post Office, deserve large compensation payments, however as the Post Office is wholly owned by the taxpayer, we will all have to pay for this. Fujitsu must not be allowed to get away with their part, as the Horizon system provided by them was faulty and they were allegedly remotely accessing the Horizon system without the knowledge of the sub-postmasters.
Fujitsu should be made to pay compensation, but successive Governments seem reluctant to take legal action against them, after they successfully sued the NHS. After repeated delays and failure to deliver the promised product, the NHS terminated its contract with Fujitsu in 2008. The Japanese company sued and won the case in 2014, which cost the UK government £700m. There was another IT failure with the system put into the Magistrates' Courts
Fujitsu are STILL being awarded Government contracts and their contract with the Post Office was extended to 2025. The following article was published on the BBC website in September 2022 and highlights some of the failures of Fujitsu IT systems, but since then, yet more contracts have been awarded by the Government to Fujitsu.
I hope that the current Public Inquiry into the Post Office Scandal also looks at Fujitsu’s role so that they may be forced to pay compensation instead of the taxpayer.
I’ve also provided links to articles that report on the major Tory donor Simon Blagden, who was Chairman of Fujitsu UK, which sued the NHS after it wanted to pull out of another failed IT system provided by Fujitsu. Simon Blagdon was also made a member of the UKHSA advisory board in April 2022. I sincerely hope that the cronyism that is rife at the heart of the UK establishment, will not stop Fujitsu being made to pay for their numerous errors. We need individuals who were aware of the cover-up to be prosecuted and punished for their role in this awful miscarriage of justice.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61020075
https://news.sky.com/story/may-risks-cronyism-row-as-tory-donor-eyes-trade-minister-job-11743714
Comments
For those not already aware of it, there is a petition to strip Paula Vennells of her CBE. Alan Bates has been awarded an OBE, but refuses to accept it until Vennells is stripped of hers. I just checked in on it having signed it last week when it was at 30k. It has now reached 882,000!!. So clearly the goal must be to reach a million, that makes a strong political statement.
All that said, this is just the start. IMO. She and, importantly, all the key senior management involved with Horizon should be investigated with a view to criminal charges. There is a full Public Inquiry underway now, 14 years after Alan Bates demanded it, and that will facilitate such charges. Not least because the Met Police have apparently already started an investigation for potential fraud, but left to their own devices I wouldn't currently trust them to crack it. And I'm not sure that fraud is the only possible charge, but I'm not a lawyer.
Speaking of lawyers the FT published a very good article a week ago shedding light on the lawyers involved on both sides. Something of interest for @Jints among others.
Don't know if someone can post it as text?
Those responsible should be held to account via criminal prosecution but unfortunately justice is too late for many who suffered at their attempt to cover things up
The fact its taken a TV drama to show us all what really went on and that its only because of this show that the headlines are being grabbed and there's now a demand for people to be held to account is quite disturbing really, in its own way.
As is the obviously misguided reliance on the IT "solution" that was installed as being completely infallible and peoples word not being believed, in the complete and total absence of any real evidence that they had done anything wrong - a classic case of "computer says no".
I'm definitely going to resist getting a smart meter for as long as I can!
A prime example of marking your own homework.
But I haven't heard anything to say that the same glitch also produced fictitious profits in some instances, meaning people paid less. Were the errors only ever in one direction?
If they were then this would make the whole thing stink even more.
Thing that angers me the most is I’d not heard a thing on this until this brilliant drama. Why had so few investigative journos / producers not wanted to go big on it until now?
Fujitsu should also be pursued for a massive contribution, then blacklisted for government work for a number of years, otherwise it's mugs like us who end up footing the bill, as usual.
AFKA has been waxing lyrical about a new series he discovered a few weeks back called Steptoe and Son.
;-)
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252509066/Fujitsu-escaped-huge-lawsuit-because-Post-Office-behaved-so-badly-in-Horizon-scandal
Cronyism and rewards for failure happen too often in this country and it needs to stop. I hope that more people will become angry at this and demand change.
For what it's worth I wasn't aware of it either. Could the Horizon employees be pocketing the money themselves?
It is interesting how the creative use of Drama has not told us any lies but has revealed the humanity behind the story.
Sometimes bald facts don't really express the visceral nature, or the concinnity of what has occurred.
Well done ITV, and everybody loves Toby Jones obvs (his thespian dad was special too).
Private Eye also regularly pull up rich people using SLAPPS to silence any reporters or whistleblowers who attempt to expose their wrongdoings (be they actually illegal, or "just" immoral) - one of the reasons some mainstream media journalists and their editors don't take the risk of exposing people like Southall.
Anyway, here's that article about Vennell's successor, who was up for a bonus seemingly just for not lying. What have we come to when top officials lying is so accepted that we expect people who don't lie to be compensated...
https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/04/fujitsu_flood_contract_extension/?ref=biztoc.com
Fujitsu wins flood contract extension despite starring in TV drama about its failures
"The Post Office has cut the size of the compensation pot it set aside to pay branch managers wrongly convicted of theft and false accounting by half. Its annual accounts show it has now set aside £244m, down from £487m last year."
I thought at the time that this implied the Post Office were confident that many of the Horizon postmasters and mistresses would not be receiving compensation. Let's hope recent developments mean their confidence was misplaced. Or that they see a way of getting Fujitsu to cough up -although I won't hold my breath for that!
Actually, the BBC has broadcast a lot about this scandal - a long series of 20+ Radio 4 programs "The Great Post Office Trial" (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m000jf7j), and 3 editions of Panorama - but the ITV drama has clearly got through to a different audience, which is good - the more publicity the better.
Much of this has been driven by a freelance journalist, Nick Wallis https://www.postofficescandal.uk/about/ who has largely relied on crowdfunding.
Head of Technology Product Business, Fujitsu EMEIA Region Jul 2015 – July 2018 –
Chief Executive Officer/Head of UK & Ireland region May 2014 – Jun 2015
Executive Director – Technology Product Group Oct 2010 – Apr 2014
Sales & Business Development Director, Government Business Decision Apr 2009 – Oct 2010
Business Unit Director, Identity Management Mar 2006 – Mar 2009
He is currently working part time in the Cabinet Office, responsible for cross-government relationship with strategic supplier working with MOD and other Government departments. Apparently Crown Representatives play no role in contract award or Government procurement, but the Cabinet Office says there is no conflict of interest, though it stinks of jobs for the boys'.