UK: Sunak Advocates Law to Exonerate Post Office Workers

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Facts

• UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that the government will push new legislation to exonerate hundreds of Post Office managers who were wrongfully convicted of theft, fraud, and false accounting due to faulty software.¹
• From 1999 to 2015, more than 900 postal branch managers were convicted of financial crimes after Post Office computers incorrectly showed that funds were missing from branch locations. However, defective accounting software package Horizon caused the vast faulty reporting after it was implemented in Post Offices in the late 1990s.²
• A total of 3.5K people were accused of defrauding the postal service, and around 230 workers were imprisoned while several even died from suicide amid the stress. In 2019, the UK High Court ruled that Horizon, manufactured by Japanese company Fujitsu, was responsible for the financial irregularities in computing systems.³
• Sunak called the scandal 'one of the greatest miscarriages of justice' and vowed to swiftly compensate the victims. In addition to exonerating postal workers, the new legislation will award £75K ($95.5K) to the 555 workers who brought their grievances to the High Court in 2019. After they are exonerated, confirmed victims are eligible for at least £600K ($764K) compensation, depending on their circumstances.⁴
• 64% of the 980 postmasters who were convicted have already received £148M ($188M) in government settlements, however, postal services minister Kevin Hollinrake said that only 93 have overturned their convictions. Meanwhile, a larger inquiry is investigating Fujitsu to determine if it is liable to pay compensation to the victims.⁵
• A renewed spotlight was placed on the scandal after the outlet ITV debuted a drama called 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office' last week. The four-part program focuses on the story of a post office operator called Alan Bates who led the fight against unjust prosecutions.⁶

Sources: ¹NBC, ²Associated Press, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Sky News, ⁵Bloomberg and ⁶Guardian.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Guardian. It's hard to understate the profound impact of the UK post office scandal, and no amount of compensation can right the wrongs of the injustices that took place. Livelihoods and reputations were destroyed, and some victims tragically took their own lives. While the government finally took necessary action to expedite justice and begin compensating postal workers, we cannot allow corrupt corporate executives and bureaucrats to get off scot-free. Fujitsu is the first culprit who caused this perversion of justice to happen, and it must be held accountable for the destruction it caused. Post Office leadership must also answer for their willingness to destroy employees without due process.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Archive. There's no denying that the Post Office scandal was a great miscarriage of injustice, and Prime Minister Sunak took swift action to exonerate victims and advance compensation payments. Instead of prolonging the process, the government's legislation grants blanket exoneration, allowing for faster justice. While this issue is a stain on the UK justice system, the government is working diligently to remedy the situation, and it will ensure that all responsible parties will be held accountable. The past cannot be undone, but victims will be compensated for their suffering.

Predictions