Contributions
2,740 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalIt was a pleasure to meet my right hon. and learned Friend yesterday, and on other occasions, to talk about Mrs Jasvinder Barang. As he is aware, people whose convictions have…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI thank my right hon. and learned Friend for his work and for his advice over recent days. As he has said while we have been trying to resolve this issue, there is no perfect…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalWe do see this solution as being practical and rapid, as my right hon. Friend has described it. As for his point about Fujitsu, which he has often raised, he is right to say that…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI thank my right hon. Friend for the urgent question and for his collaboration with us on these matters. We have looked carefully at the issue of individual exonerations and did…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI am very keen to make sure it is a UK-wide scheme, both in terms of compensation and people’s access to it. We have already had conversations with the Scottish Administration—I…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI thank the hon. Member for her work. We have engaged with her on this issue regularly, and she works very hard on behalf of her constituents. We are keen to make the compensation…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI do not quite agree with that. Clearly, it has not been the Post Office’s finest hour by a long chalk, but the Post Office brand itself is revered around the country. The…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalHaving dealt with a number of different redress schemes over the years, including those following some of the banking scandals, my experience with victims—the same applies in…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI thank the hon. Gentleman for his constant contributions on this subject and many others. It has been a pleasure to do this role, to take on this huge issue, which he and I both…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI am very sorry to hear what happened to Mr Ward-Best. His family should be able to get compensation through the historic shortfall scheme. That scheme is there to put Mr…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalOn behalf of the Government and the Post Office, I apologise for what happened to Mr Thomas, who obviously featured very heavily in the programme. It was such a moving story, and…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalMy hon. Friend is one of my predecessors, and I thank him for the job he did. His tenure was all too short, but he did a great job. I know he raised this matter when he looked…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalThe short answer is yes; people who are guilty of offences—ones that can be prosecuted—should be brought to account. All kinds of different routes might be available to make sure…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalIt is fair to say that the answer is no, because this scandal has occurred and there must have been a systemic failure in the relationship, either in the Post Office or in…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalWe hope to complete all the legal and administrative aspects of the compensation payments by August, while Sir Wyn Williams’s inquiry is due to conclude by the end of the year. We…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalYes, absolutely, we believe that the overturning of convictions would happen in respect of cases prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service too, not least because, as we…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI thank my hon. Friend for his remarks and his question. I am pleased that Paula Vennells has handed back her CBE. It was absolutely the right thing to do. As part of the inquiry,…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI thank the hon. Gentleman for his work. I am aware of his involvement on behalf of his constituents. I also put on record my thanks to my right hon. and learned Friend the Lord…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalThe hon. Gentleman has been a regular contributor on this issue. We are keen to include “no public interest” cases within the scope. They are currently treated slightly…10 Jan 2024HANSARDPost Office Horizon ScandalI thank my hon. Friend for contributing to these important debates in the House once again. He brings first-hand experience, as the only postmaster serving in the House. He is…10 Jan 2024