Just a little perspective:
This circus will wrap up in September at a cost to the taxpayer of around £200 million.
‘In October 2023, I announced our intention to provide funding of up to £150 million, plus any contingency that may be required, to support the Post Office fully participating in the Post Office Horizon it inquiry and to support the delivery of redress to postmasters.
Since then, those costs have increased and the Government have decided to provide access to contingency funding, and award a further £40 million to ensure Post Office can continue to deliver this important work. The Government remain determined to address the wrongs of the Horizon scandal.’
Contrast this with the criminal enquiry, surely of far more interest to any subpostmaster who has had to share a cell for months or years and slop out.
‘Criminal inquiry into Post Office scandal set to involve 80 detectives and cost £6.75m. A CRIMINAL inquiry into the Post Office scandal is set to involve 80 detectives and cost £6.75million. It will look into claims of perverting justice and perjury after 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly convicted.’
And from the post office website:
‘Post Office has identified a total of 700 convictions in cases it prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 in which Horizon computer evidence might have featured. We have contacted the majority, although there remain 25 people we are still unable to trace despite continuing strenuous efforts to do so. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has also, separately, contacted people who had not yet responded to Post Office. Details can be found on the CCRC website here.
The total number of all overturned convictions as of 30 April 2024 is 103. This includes ten cases in which Post Office was not the prosecutor.
More than £43 million has been paid in compensation to date, including 41 full and final settlements.’
So 200 mio plus to be splurged on this public mea minima culpa in under 2 years, £43 mio to compensate the victims paid so far, and less than £7 mio to actually try to put the truly guilty in jail.
It kind of speaks for itself.