Ed Davey says sorry for taking five months to meet Alan Bates and says ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells ‘fed me lies’
18 July 2024, 14:28
Sir Ed Davey has apologised for taking five months to meet the Post Office Horizon scandal hero Sir Alan Bates.
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The leader of the Liberal Democrats told the Post Office inquiry he was sorry for “not seeing through” their lies.
Sir Ed also apologised for taking five months to meet Sir Alan, before labelling the Horizon scandal the “greatest miscarriage of justice of our time”.
“I am deeply sorry for the individuals and families who have had their lives ruined by it,” the Lib Dem leader said.
“As one of the ministers over the 20 years of this scandal who had postal affairs as part of my ministerial responsibilities, I am sorry that it took me five months to meet Sir Alan Bates, the man who has done so much to uncover all this, and that I did not see through POL’s lies when I and my officials raised his concerns with them.”
Sir Ed has been criticised over his involvement in the scandal, having service as Post Office minister in the 2010 coalition Government.
He has said sorry on a number of occasions, including when speaking to LBC's James O'Brien back in February.
Sir Ed told James O'Brien: "I feel I should apologise for not seeing through those lies [told by the Post Office] but I have to say it would have been pretty tough.
"I should have said sorry earlier. I don't know why, I probably should have."
Read More: Ed Davey tells LBC he’s sorry he didn’t uncover 'profound lies' told by Post Office
Today he revealed that only became aware of 900 wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters due to the inquiry itself.
Pressed by lead counsel Jason Beer KC when he became aware, he said: “I certainly did not realise it when I was a minister.”
Sir Ed was less accusatory when it came to civil servants, telling the inquiry he did not know whether they had misled him over the scandal.
“With all issues in such a busy portfolio, you had to be able to rely on the advice of civil servants, and you were not in a position to dig into the detail of every question that came across your desk,” he said.
“As I have stated publicly, I believe I was seriously misled by the Post Office.”
He continued: “I do not know if one or more civil servants misled me during my time as a minister, or if they were themselves misled by Post Office Ltd. I hope the Inquiry can shed light on this.
“However, if I had known then what we all know now – if the Post Office had told the truth – of course I would have acted differently.”
The Post Office Horizon scandal was thrust into the limelight once again in January following its dramatisation in the ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office'.
It told how hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongfully accused of stealing from the Post Office after Fujitsu's Horizon IT system displayed false financial discrepancies.
A number of sub-postmasters had their wrongful convictions overturned, though more are still waiting for justice and compensation.
