Being given a bonus for betraying the Post Office workers is a crime, the money she received is like Judas.

Not just redress is needed but a clean and fresh start to their financial record

It is vitally important to the good people of our nation to know that the Post Office Scandal isn’t going away anytime soon certainly not before a General Election where those responsible will be judged by honest hardworking citizens. Throughout this entire shameful event we have seen on an hourly basis the sin, criminality and downright despicable behaviour of employees of Post Office a wholly owned Government company, from the top down and this I am sure is only the tip of the iceberg of unearthing atrocities. From the implementation of the flawed Horizon computer accounting system in 1999 every SubPostMaster was lied to, abused and humiliated for it would seem like a game to be played out in Post Office HQ corridors. I see it like a cat teasing a mouse to its final demise horrific and watched over by the entire board for their unnatural pleasure. As a honest hardworking SubPostMaster of over 17 years I as millions of other decent citizens have not one ounce of respect for anyone working for Post Office on behalf of the UK Government. Nor for that matter any Minister, Civil Servant involved with Post Office Ltd, with may I add the exception of Paul Scully MP who had a completed grasp of the sheer extent of this scandal until the Prime Minister moved this pioneering champion to the back benches making it obvious that Paul Scully was too near revealing truths, which as it happens ITV did very succinctly. I would again call on the amazing population on behalf of every SubPostmaster past and present who are not as the press insist “Managers” of Post Office another misconception, but self-employed business people who invested their own Money into buying and operating a franchise by any other name. It is time the Government were held fully accountable for this travesty and certain past time that the Honours system was not used to reward such people as Perkins and Gillland.

It is wholly immoral for the post office to pay a performance bonus for a performance that was fundamentally flawed incorrect and simply not true.

Politicians need to stop delaying tactics and finger pointing and pay these people now. The Gov is responsible for the post office and the post office is at fault. The Fujitsu software is still being used, despite the heartache it has caused to ordinary, innocent people. They should be made accountable. It’s an outrage and increased compensation payments should be made immediately. Families have been torn apart, some of those innocents have died in shame, some have taken their own lives. Money alone is not everything but it surely helps. This needs to end now.

To stop another scandal happening like the one now

The firm at the heart of the Post Office scandal continues to be handed numerous government contracts paid for by millions of taxpayers money despite its role in the Post Office Horizon Scandal. It’s even been named a “key strategic supplier”. No one at Fujitsu has been held accountable, even after it was confirmed the accounting errors were caused by the computer system. In fact, Fujitsu has continued to win government jobs worth millions, as recently as last month, despite calls for the firm to be frozen out of any new contracts. They were even awarded a £36 million contract extension to keep running their Horizon Post Office contract until 2025. Enough is enough, MP’s from all sides are now saying Fujitsu should not be handed any more Government contracts after the Horizon Scandal. Let’s show the public agrees.

As Lord Falconer has already stated, the ongoing inquiry into the scandal “needs to examine in detail the role of Fujitsu, which provided and managed the faulty software. Was Fujitsu completely unaware of the devastating effect of its actions? Should it not contribute to the compensation claims of hundreds of sub-postmasters?”

We have seen governments award contract after contract to private companies that either deliver little or no value to the public purse. Fujitsu for example on top of the Horizon Post Office scandal has been awarded further Government contracts worth over three billion pounds of public money. Not one single person within Fujitsu has publically been held to account and this needs to stop - now.

Japanese tech company Fujitsu Services developed and began operating the Horizon IT financial software services for the Post Office in 1999. Employees said they reported issues with the software from the start, but claimed the Post Office brushed off their concerns or said the issues were the fault of the individual branch managers CCRC, which reviewed the wrongful convictions, said that “Horizon appeared to have significant bugs which could cause the system to misreport, sometimes involving substantial sums of money which sub-postmasters found difficult to challenge as they were unable to access information about the software to do so.” As a result, between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 sub-postmasters were accused of wrongdoing, leading to prosecutions, criminal convictions and, in some cases, prison sentences, the BBC reported. Since the post office scandal has gone viral following the court case and itv show despite Rishi Sunak saying he is looking to exonerate the sub postmasters the post office as noted on the gov website have extended the Horizon Data Centre Operations and Central Network Services as of April 2023 and should be revoked immediately and Fujitsu must take accountability. Justice for the 700+ sub postmasters who were wrongly accused of stealing and for Fujitsu to take accountability for their actions in the creation of the system and the Post Office to revoke this abhorrent contract that ruined so many lives.

Justice has not been done for most of those affected and as the responsible body you will be eager to ensure this happens. Funding a further series will be more effective than any other conceivable government action. Just make sure you give them full editorial freedom, you wouldn’t want to reduce its effectiveness by interfering. Image credit: UK Parliament. Used under Creative Commons

Defiant Sports are a Community Interest Company that provides fully inclusive access to a variety of sports regardless of ability or disability. They are a much loved and invaluable local service provider for many disabled and disadvantaged individuals, families and communities. This vital service is now under threat due to council actions. Those responsible need to be held to account and the people of Eastbourne need transparency over what is happening with the Fort Fun site and why the whole matter has been handled so appallingly via a public meeting. Just before Christmas 2023 Defiant Sports were told by Eastbourne Council that they would have to vacate the Fort Fun Site (a previously derelict amusement park located on Eastbourne Seafront). Yet just 12 months earlier the council had highly praised their plans for the site (which had the potential to make Eastbourne an attractive equal opportunities resort for disabled people) when they announced they were to be awarded a joint 5 year lease, along with Wingrove House. The group achieved this after a long and arduous bidding process where various local charities, not for profits and small enterprises had been encouraged to apply for the opportunity to develop the site and to submit plans of intent. The bidding process and criteria were unclear, the process was dragged out with deadlines moved and decisions continually delayed, some bidders only finding via Facebook that their bid would be rejected as they had asked for a long term lease and then discovered that the council only intended to award a short term 5 year lease. During the bidding process there was much disquiet on social media as to why the council was not looking for a major funder and questions were asked as to why only a short term lease was being offered. Councillor Robert Smart made it clear to some seafront groups this was because there was a chance that in the future the Eden Project might be interested in the site. This has been reinforced by his statement to the press this last week and in discussion with two constituents in a Meads conservative councillor surgery. When Council leader, David Tutt made the announcement that Defiant Sports would have the site, shortly before the local elections, he spoke glowingly about the plans they had put forward. Loretta and her team immediately started ploughing a load of resources and manpower into realising their vison for the site. The council failed to fulfil its duty to provide access to water or electricity or any planning permissions necessary for them to make any real headway despite frequent requests and the fact that these were based on the submission which had led to the council awarding them the lease in the first place. Without these permissions Defiant Sports could not apply for the grants which they had made clear to the council were necessary to realise their ambitions. Their hands were tied. Despite this they made a huge visible impact on the site, clearing much of the external structures, dismantling equipment and having much of the site waste, in the area allocated to them, removed. Amidst this process the council suddenly decided to change the area Defiant Sports had been allocated but in the ensuing months failed to define how they were going to do this - again leaving Defiant Sports unable to move forward. However much of the site had been visibly cleared by them. This was in stark contrast to Wingrove House, with whom they shared the site. Wingrove House had been awarded part of the site 6 months earlier than Defiant Sports with the, now retired, Councillors Burton and Tutt promising that their part of the site would be open by September 2022. Yet 18 months on and Wingrove House have not opened any part of their section of the site. However, despite all of this, the council have inexplicably announced that they are now awarding sole use of the site to Wingrove House and Defiant Sports are being forced to vacate it. Having focussed so much time and energy on this project - which it now appears the council had absolutely no intention of letting them realise - the group find themselves in financial difficulties and having to drastically reduce the services it offers. This abysmal near destruction of a small worthy community group that provides such a unique and necessary service to many local families, individuals and communities is reprehensible. The council need to be held to account for the total mismanagement of this process, reparation needs to be made to Defiant Sports and an alternative venue urgently found for them. Explanations also have to be given as to why Wingrove House now has sole use of the site and why does the site seem to be being reserved just in case the Eden Project want it in the vague future with no open, national tendering process. Please sign and demand the council: • compensate Defiant Sports for all the work they have done on the site over the last 12 months (estimated at £75k) • find them suitable alternative accommodation as a matter of urgency so they can restore some of their programme and support the disabled and disadvantaged in our community. • Request the council hold a public meeting with all the relevant councillors and officers there so we, the people of Eastbourne, can get some transparency over what the council's rationale was, what their intentions are, what it is that the Eden Project might have in mind, and open details over the results of the Eden Project feasibility study on which the council have spent £150k.