UK PM Sunak confirms new law to exonerate Post Office scandal victims

LONDON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a new law to exonerate all those wrongly accused of theft and fraud in a Post Office scandal involving a faulty accounting system and also a new upfront compensation payment for those affected, including many British Indians.

In a statement during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons, Sunak said new primary legislation will be published, and those part of a Group Litigation Order (GLO) against the Post Office will be eligible for an upfront payment of GBP 75,000.

It comes after he pledged action following the issue, which dates back to the 1990s, was brought back into the limelight following a television drama series aired recently.

“Mr Speaker, this is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history,” said Sunak.

“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation. Sir Wyn Williams' inquiry is undertaking crucial work to undo, to expose what went wrong, and we've paid almost GBP 150 million in compensation to over 2,500 victims,” he said.

“But today, I can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure that those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated. We will also introduce a new upfront payment of GBP 75,000 for the vital [Group Litigation Order] group of postmasters," he added.

Downing Street has since indicated the intention is to have the legislation introduced within weeks and compensation paid out by the end of the year.

UK Postal Minister Kevin Hollinrake also provided an update to the Commons following the announcement to say that all those claiming compensation will sign a statement of truth to say they did not commit the crimes of which they were accused.

"Anyone subsequently found to have signed such a statement untruthfully will be putting themselves at risk of prosecution or fraud," Hollinrake said.

It came as the BBC reported that some Indian-origin victims of the scandal have claimed that racism was also at play against them.

"All the Indians are doing it. They have relatives, so they take the money and send it to them abroad," a man of Indian heritage claimed a member of Post Office staff told him.

Another person of South Asian descent said, "It was like we were dumb because English wasn't our first language, that we struggled to make sense of basic accounting".

Balvinder Gill told BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ programme that his life was destroyed after he was wrongly accused of stealing GBP 108,000 from the Post Office in 2004. The 45-year-old had a mental breakdown afterwards and was sectioned three times.

"My parents were spoken to as if they were idiots because they're not white. They were made to feel like they didn't understand the system and that they were stupid," he said.

Many of the government-owned Post Office Ltd branch managers are of South Asian heritage, with official data from 2012 showing there were 1,547 sub-postmasters and agents of Indian heritage in England and Wales.

The ITV drama ‘Mr Bates Vs The Post Office’, which aired in the UK this month, has acted as a catalyst for this simmering issue, with the Metropolitan Police also confirming that it is investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences.