The Post Office is a disgrace, says Conservative MP Bridgen

[TrueBlueTerrier]

'The Post Office is a disgrace', says Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/587367 ... en-inquiry" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Postmaster Michael Rudkin is being sued

MINISTERS will tomorrow face calls to launch an inquiry into the Post Office after claims glitches in its computer system caused at least 150 sub-postmasters to be wrongly accused of false accounting.

Many were sacked, stripped of their savings, driven to the brink of suicide and even jailed after cash shortfalls were recorded at some branches, despite allegations a faulty IT system was to blame.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen will call for a judicial inquiry into the fiasco, which he has branded a “national disgrace”, when he leads an adjournment debate in the Commons tomorrow.

The debate comes after a leaked report revealed the Post Office failed to investigate properly why money had gone missing from branches before launching court proceedings against sub-postmasters.

The Post Office asked forensic accountants Second Sight to investigate the Horizon IT system in 2012, following complaints from dozens of sub-postmasters who said they had been wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting when cash shortfalls were discovered.

A leaked copy of the accountants’ report in April suggested the discrepancies could have been caused by computer failures, cyber criminals or human error.

Mr Bridgen told the Sunday Express he is convinced there are sub-postmasters who went to jail for fraud who had not stolen any money.

“That is why on Monday I am going to call for a judicial inquiry into the Post Office’s Horizon system,” he said.

“I believe there could well be a liability to the taxpayer for potential miscarriages of justice. It is a national disgrace and it needs to be resolved.”

He was contacted by his constituent Michael Rudkin, 57, and his wife Susan, 60, who were pursued to the brink of ruin by the Post Office, which claimed £44,000 was missing from their shop in Ibstock, Leicestershire.

Mr Rudkin, who denies any wrongdoing, was forced to repay the money and Susan, who did most of the running of the branch, was prosecuted and given a suspended jail term.

She was left “contemplating suicide” after her conviction.

[Lounge Lizard]

And who would have thought that a Conservative MP could say something with which we agree ?
And it's not as if there's a general election in a few weeks.

[NWpostie]

The Post Office will not admit they are in the wrong and will fight tooth and nail using obfuscation, court actions injunction to delay the revealing of the truth. the Post masters lives and reputation is minuscule campared.

A lot of Post Offices have closed round mine either for similar reasons or have seen the writing on the wall and jumped, some of them told me when I do collections, of their daily struggles and how it was not the profitable enterprise it used to be they yearned to leave and hopefully with a pay off, many of them are hard working ethnic people who have inherited the hard working ethics from their parents who are usually first or second generation commonwealth immigrants. these people are full of despair and no hope, this is their reward for providing a community service.

I too never thought I would read of a Tory MP willing to take on the Post Office Ltd bullies, I hope they are brought to account.

[Darren Bent]

It had been a problem for over 3 years, and don't seem to be any solution. It is not good enough.

[Lounge Lizard]

Masters of the Post ( page 387 ) reports that in the early 1950s "The Post Office was already struggling to find enough commission-based sub-postmasters for its network of village post offices in many rural areas" and that was half a century before the Horizon system was introduced.