Tony Blair says Peter Mandelson reassured him that scandal-hit Post Office Horizon IT system was ‘reliable’ before he gave rollout the go-ahead
- Tony Blair says Peter Mandelson assured him Post Office’s IT system was reliable
- The former Prime Minister gave the order to build the Horizon computer system
- Later, over 700 postmasters were convicted of thieving due to bug-ridden data
- After criticism, Blair insisted that he was not to blame for the disastrous rollout
Tony Blair has pointed to a note from Peter Mandelson providing reassurances that the computer system at the heart of the Post Office IT scandal was reliable.
The former Prime Minister gave the order to build the Horizon computer system despite being warned it was ‘increasingly flawed’.
In the years that followed more than 700 postmasters were convicted for thieving from their own tills based on computer data corrupted by dozens of bugs.
Campaigners have blamed the New Labour Prime Minister for failing to halt the project, despite receiving ‘multiple communications’ about its ‘chequered history’.
For Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) said a note from Peter Mandelson (right) gave reassurance that the computer system at the heart of the Post Office IT scandal was reliable. Blair gave the order to build the Horizon computer system despite being warned it was ‘increasingly flawed’
Over 700 postmasters were convicted for thieving from their own tills based on bug-ridden computer data. Campaigners blamed Blair for failing to halt the project, despite receiving ‘multiple communications’ about its ‘chequered history’
Now Mr Blair has claimed he was not to blame for the disastrous rollout.
In a statement to the public inquiry investigating the scandal he said he ‘received the necessary reassurances’ from ministers as to the system’s ‘reliability’.
The first prosecutions came within months of the system being rolled out.
Documents at the time showed Mr Blair was given the option to renegotiate or cancel the Horizon contract, but pressed ahead.
Horizon, an IT system developed by the Japanese company Fujitsu, was rolled out by the Post Office from 1999.
The system was used for tasks such as transactions, accounting and stocktaking. However, subpostmasters complained about defects after it reported shortfalls – some of which amounted to thousands of pounds.
Some subpostmasters attempted to plug the gap with their own money, even remortgaging their homes, in an attempt to correct an error.
Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters were sacked or prosecuted due to the glitches. The ex-workers blamed flaws in the IT system, Horizon, but the Post Office denied there was a problem.
In case after case the Post Office bullied postmasters into pleading guilty to crimes they knew they had not committed.
Many others who were not convicted were hounded out of their jobs or forced to pay back thousands of pounds of ‘missing’ money.
The Post Office spent £32million to deny any fault in their IT system, before capitulating.
However, the postmasters and postmistresses said the scandal ruined their lives as they had to cope with the impact of a conviction and imprisonment, some while they had been pregnant or had young children.
Marriages broke down, and courts have heard how some families believe the stress led to health conditions, addiction and premature deaths.
In a nine-page document, released on Thursday, he said he sought reassurances the system was reliable from his ministers, and that he received them.
He wrote: ‘I sought and obtained assurances as to the reliability of the product being developed. It is now clear that the Horizon product was seriously flawed, leading to tragic and completely unacceptable consequences, and I have deep sympathy with those affected.’
Mr Blair points to a note from then Trade Secretary, Peter Mandelson, which read: ‘There is still some way to go to complete the Horizon project, but the basic development work has been thoroughly evaluated by independent experts who have pronounced it viable, robust… I believe the only sensible choice is to proceed with the Horizon project.’
Lord Arbuthnot, a Tory peer who has long campaigned for sub-postmasters, said: ‘What on earth would such assurance have been based on?
‘Horizon came bottom in eight of the 11 criteria put to the final three bidders – but it was the cheapest. And we now know the Fujitsu itself thought its own software team was a joke.’
A report compiled by the former No10 policy head warned the Horizon project had been ‘beset by problems’ and was ‘increasingly flawed’.
Mr Blair flagged his concerns but, he now points out, was reassured by the note from Mr Mandelson the following day.
Horizon had already been scrapped by another government department after problems in testing.
Horizon campaign Eleanor Shaikh, in a 579-page report handed to the inquiry, said: ‘Blair ruled that the Post Office must purchase a salvaged version of Horizon’, and that he ‘had received multiple communications regarding Horizon’s chequered history’.
It added: ‘Right up until the day before the Prime Minister’s decision, the Post Office were vociferous… they wished to terminate Horizon and start afresh with a new supplier.’
This week the public inquiry heard that the Post Office felt ‘shafted’ by the decision to press ahead with the IT system.
It was not until 2019 that the Post Office, which is wholly owned by the Government, admitted the computer system was flawed following a long and acrimonious High Court battle.
The Government has agreed to pay compensation to close to 3,500 postmasters, with the bill expected to exceed £850million.
Peter Mandelson has been approached for comment.
From wrongful imprisonment to strokes and even suicide: How the Horizon IT scandal devastated victims’ lives
Welsh postmaster jailed for nine months ‘fell off the ladder’ after conviction – before picking himself up and seeking challenge to Post Office prosecution
Noel Thomas was jailed for nine months in 2006 after he was accused of stealing £48,000
Noel Thomas was jailed for nine months in 2006 after he was accused of stealing £48,000 while he was working for the Post Office in Gaerwen on Anglesey.
He told the BBC that he admitted to the charge because he never reported discrepancies he noticed, but insisted he did not take the money and blamed the Horizon computer system.
‘I want everyone to have their name cleared and to get to the bottom of what has happened and where the money has gone to,’ Mr Thomas told BBC Newyddion 9.
‘Thirteen years after jail, I must admit it was hard but I gradually got my confidence back through family, friends and work colleagues.
‘Yes, I do feel bitter, and not just for myself – the Post Office have been coming and telling people that they have taken money, that they are a thief.’
Family of postmaster who killed himself after being wrongly accused of theft demand Post Office bosses are held accountable
Martin Griffiths, 59, took his own life in 2013 after he was falsely suspected of stealing money from Post Office
Father-of-two Martin Griffiths, 59, took his own life in 2013 after he was falsely suspected of stealing money from a Post Office in Ellesmere Port, where he had worked for around 20 years.
Mr Griffiths was one of hundreds of postmasters who were suspected of false accounting and theft, with some fired or wrongfully convicted, after amounts appeared to vanish from their tills.
The family of Mr Griffiths said he delved into his own savings and those of his parents to pay back around £60,000 he was wrongly suspected of taking from the branch.
The turmoil lasted for four years, between 2009 and 2013, and had a huge impact on the father-of-two’s physical and mental health, his family said.
In 2013, Mr Griffiths parked his car on the A41 in Ellesmere Port after leaving a note for his loved ones and took his own life.
His family have called for a stricter line of review from the Government and asked for a judge-led enquiry to get to the bottom of the injustices behind the scandal.
Postmaster caught up in major IT scandal which saw many falsely accused of accounting fraud suffered a STROKE after he was hounded for £65,000
Peter Murray said he suffered a series of breakdowns and a stroke after he was hounded for £65,000
Peter Murray said he suffered a series of breakdowns and a stroke after he was hounded for £65,000. The 53-year-old, from Wallasey in Merseyside, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
He said he was suspended without pay and forced to take out loans and borrow from friends to make monthly repayments to the Post Office.
He paid £1,000 a month before learning that he was among many sub-postmasters to face false accusations.
‘It left me completely devastated,’ added the father of three. ‘It caused absolute havoc for my family, I have had several nervous breakdowns. It made me feel like a convict, but I’m not going to let it beat me.’
Wife finally clears name of her postmaster husband after he died while still facing false Post Office claim he had stolen £46,000
Marion Holmes, 78, won justice for her late husband, Peter Holmes, who was a respected postmaster in Jesmond, Newcastle, before the Post Office Horizon scandal ‘destroyed’ his good name
Marion Holmes, 78, won justice for her husband, Peter, who was a respected postmaster before the Post Office Horizon scandal ‘destroyed’ his good name.
Ex-police officer Peter Holmes had successfully run a sub Post Office in Jesmond, Newcastle, for 13 years, before his world came crashing down due to issues with the Horizon computer system.
When more than £46,000 went missing from his books in 2008, Peter found police at his door and shocking criminal accusations made against him.
He was forced to admit four counts of false accounting in order to for prosecutors to drop charges of theft of the money, which could have seen him sent to prison.
In fact, Peter was one of a number of people wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office over errors its own system had made.
Family of one postmaster said he died a broken man after being forced to clean graves as punishment for a crime he did not commit
Julian Wilson (pictured with his wife Karen) was shattered by injustice and exhausted by his attempts to clear his name
Julian Wilson was shattered by injustice and exhausted by his attempts to clear his name, they said. He died in 2016, at the age of 67, of bowel cancer. His wife Karen says the disease had it roots in the trauma he endured and the all-consuming campaign for redemption.
For years the Post Office had stubbornly insisted its IT systems – called Horizon and designed by a company called Fujitsu – never lied, calling them ‘robust’.
Last year, following a court case brought by 557 postmasters, Mr Justice Fraser branded Horizon not ‘remotely robust’.
He added: ‘This approach by the Post Office has amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred.
‘It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.’
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