Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates yesterday told the BBC he had received no response despite writing to the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer ‘twice in the last month’ setting out deadlines for compensation to be paid to the victims of the Horizon Scandal.
Bates told ITV News that he wrote to the prime minister ‘on October 2, and again a few days ago, urging him to ensure victims receive full financial redress’ but has had no response and overall ‘very little contact with the new government’.
In January this year Sir Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition, was vocal in calling for the then Conservative government to take action to look at the convictions, and taking the prosecution powers away from the Post Office, drawing on his experience as Director of Public Prosecutions.
When asked by the BBC earlier this year to comment on his awareness of the scandal in his position as head of the Crown Prosecution Service, he stated he was unaware of the three cases that were brought while he was in charge. The then shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, instead urged the conservative government to ‘get on with the job’ and ensure ‘fair compensation for these postmasters, as quickly as possible’ instead of ‘mud-slinging’.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister told the BBC that he has responded to Sir Alan confirming that ‘the government is committed to getting quick redress for victims, but is wary of setting an “arbitrary cut-off” date that could see some claimants miss out’.
Campaigners have criticised the delay in providing compensation to victims who received prison sentences and indeed many who have already died and missed out on receiving justice.
Janet Skinner, victim of the scandal, said that the compensation process rather than helping people is ‘more like a battle’, after being asked ‘a fifth time for a medical report to prove her disability was as a result of the wrongful conviction and prison sentence.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister has confirmed that ‘each postmaster eligible should receive substantial redress by the end of March’.
