SNP MP says Post Office bosses should have bonuses stripped over Horizon scandal

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https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/poli ... e-30905327

Exclusive: Marion Fellows described the idea of Post Office executives receiving £1.6 million in bonuses as "grotesque".

More than 700 Post Office staff were prosecuted for theft and false accounting between 2000 and 2014 after the company’s flawed Horizon computer system wrongly said there were shortfalls in takings.

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An SNP MP has called on the UK government to take away more than £1 million in bonuses from Post Office bosses for their part in the Horizon scandal which saw innocent postmasters jailed.

Motherwell and Wishaw MP Marion Fellows described the idea of Post Office executives receiving £1.6 million in bonuses as "grotesque".


More than 700 Post Office staff were prosecuted for theft and false accounting between 2000 and 2014 after the company’s flawed Horizon computer system wrongly said there were shortfalls in takings.

Many went to prison and are still waiting on final compensation from the government. It is also claimed that four suicides are linked to the scandal.

It has been reported that the then Post Office bosses pressed on with prosecutions even after flaws were flagged up about the performance and accuracy of the Horizon IT system.

Fellows, who is chair of the All-party parliamentary group on post offices, said she wants to see the UK government claw back all the Horizon inquiry bonuses paid to bosses.

"Every penny must be paid back.


"We have been repeatedly assured by the Post Office that they are now under new management and that the disgraceful policies of the past are gone.

"But this tells us something very different.

"No one at the Post Office should be profiting from the Horizon scandal which is the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history.

"That is basic natural justice.

"In all 736 prosecutions were brought by the Post Office. Many of the people prosecuted have still not received their full compensation, yet top executives at the Post Office are being paid bonuses. This should never stand.

"On top of this, the Post Office has been slow in my view to fully co-operate with the inquiry.

"In essence the source of these bonuses is the UK government, which is the single shareholder in the Post Office.

"The UK government must now order that all bonuses relating to the Horizon inquiry be paid back.

"It is grotesque that we find ourselves in a situation where bosses are getting bonuses and those who suffered from the Horizon scandal are still waiting for compensation in many cases."

Post Office Chief executive Nick Read has agreed to hand back around £54,000 of his bonus. But there has been no pledge from the Post Office or the UK Government that others will be forced to do the same. The UK Government is the Post Office's sole shareholder.

The UK government last year said it would pay former post office operators up to £1 billion in compensation after the company said it would not be able to afford the bill.


A UK Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said:

“The impact the Horizon scandal has had on postmasters and their families is devastating.



“That’s why we set up an inquiry to get to the bottom of what went wrong and ensure it can never happen again, as well as providing compensation for those affected – with over £120 million paid to victims so far.

“We support the recommendations of the recent Simmons & Simmons report on Post Office senior remuneration and expect Post Office to implement them all carefully.”