RISHI Sunak has accused the SNP of “politicising” the Post Office Horizon scandal.
It comes after Stephen Flynn grilled Rishi Sunak on the scandal, in which more than 700 Post Office managers from across the UK were convicted due to faulty software.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Stephen Flynn noted the involvement of the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats in Government during the years when the scandal took place.
He then asked: “The reality is that subpostmasters never stood a chance against the Westminster establishment, did they?”
🗣️ 'The reality is that subpostmasters never stood a chance against the Westminster establishment' @StephenFlynnSNP grills Rishi Sunak over the Post Office scandal at PMQs 👇 pic.twitter.com/YwLCZ9xVkO
— The National (@ScotNational) January 10, 2024
Rishi Sunak responded, saying he was “sad” that Flynn is trying to “politicise something that has happened over multiple decades, with multiple people at fault”.
He said the Government acted after a 2019 court case and said the focus should be on those affected.
This comes after the Prime Minister didn’t tell Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson off just 10 minutes earlier for saying Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey should “clear off” due to his actions when he was a minister with responsibility for the Post Office.
Sunak then announced that the Government will introduce legislation to ensure those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are “swiftly exonerated and compensated”.
Speaking at the start of PMQs, Sunak said: “Today I can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure that those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated.
“We will also introduce a new up-front payment of £75,000 for the vital GLO (group litigation order) group of postmasters.”
But SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said the public is “angry” at Westminster over the Horizon scandal.
“I don’t think the Prime Minister quite gets it. This isn’t just a plague on all their houses, this is a plague on this House itself. Because injustice goes far beyond just the subpostmasters,” Mr Flynn said, listing other scandals including the infected blood scandal, Grenfell, Hillsborough and others.
He said: “The reality is that when the public come knocking on the doors of this here chamber seeking justice the Government only ever answers when they have no options left.”
He said the public is “angry at Westminster” because “they know that this place never really changes”.
