Alan Bates accuses Post Office of trying to ‘silence and discredit’ him

By Tony Corbin in Featured, Industry News 9th April 2024

Alan Bates, who was portrayed by actor Toby Jones in the TV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, has accused the Post Office of spending 23 years trying to block his campaigning for victims of the scandal in various ways.

Bates was giving evidence to the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal which resumed today (Tuesday 9 April) at Aldwych House, in central London.

In a written statement, Bates, who founded the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance, said the Post Office had spent the entirety of the 23 years he has been campaigning “denying, lying, defending, and attempting to discredit and silence me”.

Former chief executive Paula Vennells, who led the Post Office at the height of the scandal, will face the inquiry in late May, amid fresh questions over whether she misled parliament. She agreed to hand back her CBE earlier this year.

On Monday Kevin Hollinrake told a BBC Breakfast audience of sub-postmasters that, when evidence is established, “people should be prosecuted” and “people within the Post Office, possibly further afield, should go to jail”.

To date, just 37, out of more than 700 people who were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015, have received full and final compensation settlements.

Referring to last years Interim Report on Compensation, Bates wrote: “POL should have launched an investigation into the findings to prevent further cases from occurring. They needed to show a genuine intention to want to find solutions.

“I do not believe that POL showed a genuine intention to attempt to deal with the conclusions found in the Report. Had it not been for the perseverance of myself and the JFSA, it is unlikely that POL would have done anything further.”

Bates full witness statement can be read here.