Post Office scandal victims to have convictions "swiftly exonerated" after TV drama
The Prime Minister says the government will bring in a new law to "swiftly exonerate and compensate victims" of the Post Office scandal.
Victims of the Post Office scandal will be "swiftly exonerated and compensated", it has now been announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Following the airing of ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which shone a light on the nationwide scandal and the impact on its real-life victims, the Prime Minister said that the 555 former postmasters who brought a group lawsuit will be offered an upfront payment of £75,000.
Speaking at today's Prime Minister's Questions, Sunak said: "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."
He went on: "We will also introduce a new upfront payment of £75,000 for the vital GLO group of postmasters. We will make sure that the truth comes to light."
The GLO group are the 555 subpostmasters and mistresses who successfully challenged the Post Office over the Horizon accusations at the High Court in 2019.
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It was also stated that individuals could choose to have a full assessment for more compensation.
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Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer also addressed the scandal in today's PMQs, referring to it as a "huge injustice" and saying: "People lost their lives, their liberty and their livelihood and they've been waiting far too long for truth, for justice, for compensation."
The story of how hundreds of subpostmasters and mistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting by the Post Office following a defective IT system was reported at the time, but the new ITV drama has led to renewed interest and public anger over the injustices faced by those involved.
Post Office Minister Kevin Hollinrake also said today that those claiming for exoneration and compensation will have to sign a statement which will confirm they did not commit crimes.
Hollinrake said: "All we ask is that as part of claims for compensation they sign a statement to the effect that they did not commit the crimes. Anyone falsely signing this will be subject for prosecution for fraud. An honest postmaster will have his or her conviction overturned."
Read more:
- Paula Vennells to hand back CBE after Post Office drama fallout
- BBC adds last-minute repeat of Post Office Scandal Panorama special
Earlier this week, Sunak confirmed that the justice secretary was "looking at" plans to exonerate the victims of the scandal, with the real-life Alan Bates saying at the time that Sunak "really needs to ensure things happen now and they happen at real speed – not just at pace, which he has commented on recently".
Bates continued: "There's no reason these things can't be sorted quickly if enough pressure is brought to bear and it's the compensation of the original people that fought the court case that needs resolving now. It's been going on for almost 20 years for a number of these people and they've got to be able to get on with their lives."
Mr Bates vs the Post Office is available to stream in full now on ITVX. This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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