image source, Post Office Horizon IT Question
- Author, Tom Espiner
- Role, BBC business reporter
-
The Horizon postal system is “very robust” and the only scandal is that the company failed to properly defend it, according to the man charged with representing subpostmasters.
George Thomson, former leader of the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP), said of the long-running inquiry: “The scandal is not the Horizon system, the scandal is the post office’s stupidity on steroids.”
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted for criminal offences, including theft, based on faulty data from the Horizon IT system.
Christopher Head, a former sub-postmaster, described Mr Thomson’s views as “nothing short of disgusting”.
David Enright, a lawyer who has represented hundreds of people in connection with the post, said Thomson’s “flat-earth defense of the Horizon computer system defies credulity”.
Mr Thomson said the number of junior postmasters being prosecuted was a “small percentage” of the 100,000 people who used Horizon over 25 years.
Horizon is a software system for tasks such as accounting and inventory that began to be installed across post office branches starting in 1999.
Sub-postmasters complained of errors after falsely reporting shortages – often many thousands of pounds – but their concerns were dismissed.
Mr Thomson said the Post Office’s “mishandling of the situation” was “so disastrous” for the Royal Mail’s subordinate post offices, brand and group.
It means the post office “was unable to defend Horizon’s robust computer system”, Mr Thomson said.
But Mr Thomson denied the association said it happened “too close” to the post office or was “in cash”.
As part of the investigation, the former union general secretary also privately alerted the Post Office to those “sniffing” at Horizon’s IT system.
In an email from Mark Davies, director of communications and corporate affairs at the Post Office, sent on May 10, 2015, part of the chain read: “Our media relations with George [Thomson] and the team are very good at the moment – he’s been tipping us off privately about people snooping around Horizon.’
Asked by Mr Blake’s inquest counsel whether he was “tipping the Post Office”, Mr Thomson said: “I have made the point repeatedly today that Horizon is a robust system,” adding that he had worked closely with the Post Office to strengthen the franchise.
Mr Head said: “I think his evidence so far shows that he is the man he is. He has shown no remorse, no sympathy, absolutely nothing to suggest that he or the NFSP was complicit in the scandal and the damage caused by it.
“The testimony so far is nothing short of disgusting.
The NFSP was a trade union – founded in 1897 by a group of sub-postmasters to help their profession – which turned into a trade association a decade ago after the post office did not recognize the group for collective bargaining purposes.
During Friday’s hearing, Mr Thomson’s answers were met with astonishment and anger from some of the sub-postmasters in the room.
When Julian Blake, counsel for the inquiry, asked why the NFSP did not defend the subpostmasters, Mr Thomson insisted the federation argued on their behalf but did not have the resources to mount a legal defence.
The NFSP has received millions of pounds in payments from the Post Office.
The inquiry was prompted by an August 2013 email outlining plans for a 15-year deal between the post office and the NFSP.
It included annual payments starting at £500,000 in 2013-14 and reaching £2.5m between 2017 and 2028.
Mr Thomson was the General Secretary of the NFSP from 2007 to 2018.
He said: “We worked closely with the Post Office because we both needed to have a successful franchise – that’s the reality.”
Following Mr Thomson’s evidence to the inquiry, Calum Greenhow, chief executive of the NFSP, sought to distance the organization from his comments, saying the union was “shocked”.
“We want to apologize unreservedly to all members who sought help from the NFSP regarding Horizon and did not receive the support they so desperately needed and deserved,” he added.
“It is clear that more could and should have been done for them and others.”
Greenhow said the evidence heard on Friday “demonstrated” that during Mr Thomson’s tenure he “did not take significant warning signs about Horizon seriously enough and was unwilling to accept challenges to his views on it”.
‘Very Angry’
The Horizon scandal was thrust back into the spotlight with the ITV drama aired earlier in the year: Mr Bates versus the Post Office.
What followed was the story of Alan Bates, a former sub-postmaster and campaigner who took the post office to court, and a number of sub-postmasters who were wrongfully accused of stealing money or falsifying records.
He campaigned for justice for subpostmasters for 20 years and was knighted this month.
Mr Thomson criticized Sir Alan and the media for “painting Horizon as unfit for purpose”.
“Not only is this view factually incorrect, it has damaged the brand and post offices across the UK,” he said.
“My support for Horizon has never wavered.
He said that while bugs were found in the software, that doesn’t mean Horizon isn’t systemically robust.
He added that he was “furious” at the Post Office for taking people to court when it knew “people have access to your computer”, adding that the “shenanigans” were “bizarre”.
Former sub-postmaster Nitin Pandit said the Post Office and NFSP had “only one standard answer: that the system is robust”.
He said he and former colleagues were “all very upset”.
“Even today we are sitting in the inquiry and many of us are absolutely furious,” he said.
“The NFSP was not supposed to work hand in hand with the post office, it was supposed to protect us,” he added. “Where were they?”