Post Office Horizon scandal: TV drama shames PM into action

Rishi Sunak has hinted he would “strongly support” stripping former Post Office boss Paula Vennells of her CBE.

And ministerial meetings were last night held over steps to exonerate all those caught up in errors in the Horizon accounting system, which led to them being falsely accused of theft and fraud.

The scandal has been brewing for 20 years, but the four-part TV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office has sparked sudden action at the top of govermment.

Hundreds of post office staff, mostly sub-postmasters, were wrongly prosecuted when Horizon wrongly showed thousands of pounds missing from their financial accounts.

Among them were Tracy Felstead, 41, from Telford, Rubbina Shaheen, 58, who kept a post office in Shrewsbury, and Carl Page, 57, who kept a branch in Rugeley.

Jess Kaur, who kept a post office in Aldridge, near Walsall, was also accused of theft. Her case was thrown out but the stress led to a severe nervous breakdown.

Today a Black Country MP who was Post Office minister while some of the Horizon problems were happening condemned the “lies” told by the Post Office to postal workers.

Pat McFadden, who was minister for postal affairs from 2007-2010, spoke of his anger, adding he was never informed about any problems with the Horizon system during his time as minister.

He said he had watched the television drama with disgust at how the sub-postmasters and staff had been treated by the organisation.

“I think it’s the most appalling miscarriage of justice, and it’s been going on for so many years,” he said.

“All those people should be exonerated, and there should be no further delays. I think there’s a question about trust in computers and IT systems, and the misplaced faith that people have in them.

“The thing that shocked me about the TV programme was the lies that were being told.

“When postmasters were finding shortfalls in their accounts, they were being told ‘no-one else is having problems’, but that was not true.”