After they were wrongly convicted in the Horizon software scandal, the government has launched a £200k starting scheme to compensate sub-postmasters. But why is Labour being difficult with people who were wronged by a scandal?
More than 900 people were harmed by the enormous miscarriage of justice perpetrated on them by Post Office Limited and its software supplier Fujitsu.
They will all receive a £200,000 compensation payment as a starting-point, according to the new government.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
After this, they can follow two courses:
- One offers a final settlement of £600,000.
- The other, for those who believe they are owed more, requires them to apply for assessment by experts at the Department for Business and Trade. These people will automatically have their settlement figure bumped up to £450,000 – but they run the risk of not receiving the full £600k.
The government is advising people considering the latter route to seek legal advice before they make a decision – but of course this will also cost them what most of us might consider a large amount of money.
It’s a strategy of discouragement – designed to make people doubt their right to extra help. Labour’s Business and Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, should be ashamed.
Some of these people went to prison for theft and false accounting; others were left financially ruined by the ordeal of having to defend themselves in court; and some even took their own lives (obviously it is their successors who must decide what to do in those instances).
This is a scandal that has been ongoing for – what is it now? – a quarter of a century? The government should be aware of all the grievances held against Post Office Limited and Fujitsu by the wronged sub-postmasters.
So why can’t Reynolds just say, for example, “People who went to prison will have a certain amount, depending on the amount of time served; people whose lives were ruined in particular ways will receive another amount, and the successors of those who died will receive a third – and all these amounts are cumulative (they’re not either/or prospects but may be added together)”?
This is a step in the right direction – so why be difficult?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Why is Labour being difficult with people who were wronged by a scandal?
After they were wrongly convicted in the Horizon software scandal, the government has launched a £200k starting scheme to compensate sub-postmasters. But why is Labour being difficult with people who were wronged by a scandal?
More than 900 people were harmed by the enormous miscarriage of justice perpetrated on them by Post Office Limited and its software supplier Fujitsu.
They will all receive a £200,000 compensation payment as a starting-point, according to the new government.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
After this, they can follow two courses:
The government is advising people considering the latter route to seek legal advice before they make a decision – but of course this will also cost them what most of us might consider a large amount of money.
It’s a strategy of discouragement – designed to make people doubt their right to extra help. Labour’s Business and Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, should be ashamed.
Some of these people went to prison for theft and false accounting; others were left financially ruined by the ordeal of having to defend themselves in court; and some even took their own lives (obviously it is their successors who must decide what to do in those instances).
This is a scandal that has been ongoing for – what is it now? – a quarter of a century? The government should be aware of all the grievances held against Post Office Limited and Fujitsu by the wronged sub-postmasters.
So why can’t Reynolds just say, for example, “People who went to prison will have a certain amount, depending on the amount of time served; people whose lives were ruined in particular ways will receive another amount, and the successors of those who died will receive a third – and all these amounts are cumulative (they’re not either/or prospects but may be added together)”?
This is a step in the right direction – so why be difficult?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
you might also like
This will be the reason Nadhim Zahawi hasn’t had the sack for attending the scandalous Presidents Club dinner
Minister resigns over sexually explicit messages – is Westminster back to business as usual?
This should have been the theme song for the Windrush scandal