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Alan Bates set to give evidence at Post Office inquiry
Alan Bates is set to give evidence to the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry for the first time this morning.
The former sub-postmaster, whose fight for justice starred in an ITV drama, led 554 others to a High Court victory in 2019 after more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted.
His appearance marks the first day of the next two phases of the inquiry, which will examine governance, redress and how the Post Office and others responded to the scandal.
Ahead of his appearance, Mr Bates suggested that those responsible for the scandal should be prosecuted.
He told The Telegraph last week he was “not intimidated” by the prospect of the public inquiry which he described as being “24 years in the making”.
He said: “I have been doing this too long and there are few surprises, I am there to help the inquiry and try and assist them.
“The allegations and claims I made on behalf of myself and others have been proved to be right and it’s just been an uphill battle trying to force them into the light against a corporate bully which is the Post Office.”
Watch the testimony on our livestream above and follow below for the latest updates.
Jail architects of scandal, says minister
In case you missed it, the Post Office minister said on Monday that those found to be responsible for the scandal should “go to jail”.
Government minister Kevin Hollinrake said the inquiry was “unearthing evidence”. He added:
Where evidence has been established and people should be prosecuted ... I certainly feel, people within the Post Office and possibly further afield should go to jail.
[The rule of law] has failed, failed these people [sub-postmasters], inexcusably. We do believe in process, that’s the country we are very proud to live in. But if the threshold is met, the evidence is there, criminal prosecutions can be undertaken and those prosecutions, those people, are found guilty, then as I say, I have no reservations in saying people should go to jail.
Alan Bates arrives at inquiry
Alan Bates has arrived at Aldwych House in central London ahead of giving evidence at the Horizon IT Inquiry this morning.
The former sub-postmaster who was at the centre of the ITV drama and the founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, was captured speaking to a large pack of reporters and photographers several minutes ago.
Another star of ITV Post Office drama arrives at inquiry
Another victim of the Horizon scandal Jo Hamilton, who was portrayed in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, has arrived at the inquiry to see Alan Bates give evidence.
She previously described how she first noticed issues with the accounts of her Hampshire Post Office in 2003.
“I saw that I had a discrepancy of £2,000,” she said. “I called the helpline and they asked me to try certain things on the system which turned the debt into £4,000 in front of our eyes. Whatever we did it wouldn’t go away.”
She was told that her contract stated that she must cover the shortfall. “They took money out of my wages,” she said. “I was all alone, being told that I was the only person this had ever happened to.”
ICYMI: Post Office scandal chiefs should be charged, says Bates
Alan Bates has suggested those responsible for the Post Office scandal should be prosecuted, ahead of his first appearance at the inquiry into the flawed Horizon system.
Speaking to the BBC on Monday, he said: “People have got to be held accountable, I see no sign of it yet – but I think after the inquiry that’s definitely the next stage.
“And then we start looking at prosecutions, not just that as well. Huge bonuses have been paid to people over the years. Some of that should be clawed back.”
We need to know the truth, says subpostmistress
A subpostmistress said “we need to know the truth”, ahead of appearances by senior Post Office officials at the next stage of the Horizon IT Inquiry.
Jacqueline Franklin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that she wanted to see “honesty, truth and to let people know what’s happened instead of covering everything up and white-washing what’s been going on”.
“These people at the top have just hidden the truth from postmasters. It took a TV programme to bring this to the fore.
“It shouldn’t have happened, it should have been out there and the truth should be out there. We need to know the truth.”
Ms Franklin, who took over a Warwickshire post office from her mother, who died in 2019, added: “We spent evenings looking for money which had gone missing.
“We were always told that we had to make good the cash, so cash had to be made good out of your own pockets.”
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live updates of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry.
Alan Bates, the former sub-postmaster who has become the face of the fight for justice for the hundreds of people prosecuted over the accounting software, will be giving evidence as the inquiry begins its fifth phase.
He is due to start his testimony at around 10am.
Stay with us on this blog for all the updates as they happen.