Watch: Ian Hislop calls on Fujitsu bosses to pay £1m to Post Office victims
Ian Hislop has called on Fujitsu bosses to pay £1 million to each victim of the Post Office scandal in what he described as an on-air “rant”.
On Wednesday Rishi Sunak announced plans to exonerate everyone wrongfully convicted in one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in the UK. This paves the way for accused Post Office branch managers to clear their names and receive compensation for being wrongly accused.
But Hislop, editor of Private Eye, which has been reporting on the scandal since 2011, demanded Fujitsu, which developed the error-ridden Horizon system used by postmasters, hand out seven-figure sums to all victims. Appearing on ITV’s Peston program on Wednesday, Hislop was clearly furious: “The government continued to employ Fujitsu. What we need to do now is to say to Fujitsu, ‘We want compensation from you.’ How about £1 million per assistant postmaster or lady?’
“That amounts to £1bn, which is nothing compared to what the taxpayer paid Fujitsu. It’s absolutely disgraceful.”
Hislop continued to criticize both the Post Office and Fujitsu, highlighting how the money paid by sub-postmasters to cover shortfalls in their branches was returned to the system and Post Office managers were then paid healthy bonuses. He said incentives to make money for the post office meant problems with Horizon were “ignored”, adding: “They will all have to pay back their bonuses.”
The government appears to be considering demanding that Fujitsu pay back taxpayers’ money if it is found guilty of faulty Horizon software. Justice Minister Alex Chalk said the government would seek to “secure appropriate compensation on behalf of the taxpayer” if the legal investigation into the saga found “the extent of the deficiency was as we might imagine”.
Chalk said the government would await the results of the investigation, chaired by retired judge Sir Wyn Williams, before deciding what action to take against the company.
He added: “It is absolutely true that there must be justice everywhere. “This has a cost, and it will cost a fortune.”
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Fujitsu concerns
Fujitsu has been awarded multibillion-dollar government contracts in recent years, and its continued involvement in major IT programs has raised concerns. Conservative Lord Maude of Horsham, who served as a Cabinet minister under David Cameron, said on Wednesday that ministers had tried to prevent Fujitsu from taking on more official roles, but that it was “impossible” despite its “dismal” performance.
He added: “In 2010 we saw that Fujitsu was deeply dependent on the entire central government. Their performance on many of these contracts was deplorable and the procurement system regulations in place at the time made this impossible, but we tried to prevent them from receiving any more contracts.”
Hislop continues to ‘rant’
During a fiery tirade about Peston, Hislop admitted he would “scream about it” while speaking at length about the Post Office Scandal. Hislop, who is by no means loyal to Fujitsu, took aim at politicians for simply jumping on the issue due to the popularity of ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office. He also refused to praise the prime minister for announcing the general exoneration of the victims, claiming a deputy post office manager told him this was only happening because 2024 was an election year.
He didn’t stop there; Hislop also criticized the Tory government for being in charge of the country when former Post Office boss Paula Vennells was given a CBE, despite being already embroiled in scandal at that point. He refused to join the criticism of Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who is facing calls to resign over his role in the scandal. Davey, who was post office minister at the time, refused to meet campaigner Alan Bates to express his concerns about the situation for postmasters.
Hislop brushed off the attack and said former Prime Minister David Cameron, now foreign secretary, was responsible for the coalition government in which Davey served as post office minister between 2010 and 2012. His anger was full on Conservative Party leader Jake Berry, who also stood at Peston.
Berry said the government could pass emergency legislation to take back “huge taxpayer-funded pensions” or former Post Office officials, but Hislop wanted to know why Berry and the Conservatives had taken so “long” to act.
Hislop said: “It’s absolutely stupid for this government to claim, ‘Hey, we’re actually taking action now’.” Berry said this was “clearly complete and utter nonsense.” Hislop later accused Berry of interrupting, saying: “You’re speaking for everyone, you’ve been doing that the whole programme… You can’t talk nonsense like that.”
How will the compensation plan work?
As part of the exoneration announcement on Wednesday, the government also revealed further details of the compensation wrongly convicted Post Office staff are entitled to receive. Those who have had their convictions annulled are entitled to compensation of £600,000, and could potentially receive even more if their claims are assessed on an individual basis.
Sunak also announced £75,000 was being offered for deputy postmasters involved in a class-action lawsuit against the Post Office, and ministers had set aside £1bn in compensation. However, Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake admitted that Fujitsu would probably not have to pay any compensation to victims as the process would be “extensive and time-consuming”.
What have the Post Office and Fujitsu said so far?
The Post Office says compensation offers have been made to “all 2,417 of the current or former postmasters in the Horizon Deficiency Scheme”. Officials said that the program is open to late applications and pointed out that £124.7 million has been paid so far.
Post Office chief executive Nick Read said they had “paid full and fair compensation” as part of their “efforts to right the wrongs of the past”. The Post Office said they continue to urge anyone who believes they have been wrongfully convicted for any reason in the Post Office investigation to consider an appeal and continue to “contact those who may be affected”.
“The Post Office continues to work with the government to support government efforts to speed up the exoneration of people with wrongful convictions and pay full and fair compensation quickly,” a spokesperson told Yahoo News UK.
Fujitsu previously said in a statement: “The current Post Office Horizon IT legal investigation is examining complex events spanning more than 20 years to understand who knew what, when and what they did with that information. The investigation reveals the devastating impact on the lives of postmasters and their families.” and Fujitsu apologized for its role in their suffering.
“Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the investigation to understand what happened and learn from it. Out of respect for the investigative process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time.”
Yahoo News UK has contacted Fujitsu for further comment.