'Just pay up,' says Post Office scandal victim

Post Office Horizon scandal victim Jo Hamilton has hit out at delays to compensation for sub-postmasters, saying the government should "just pay".

It comes after Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said not all payments would be made by March next year.

Former sub-postmaster Sir Alan Bates had called for a March 2025 deadline to compensate all involved in the initial legal action against the Post Office.

Thomas agreed with Sir Alan that faster progress was needed, but said it would be "difficult" to achieve that deadline.

"I wish I could commit to Sir Alan’s time frame," he told BBC Breakfast. "I think we will have made substantial progress by next summer."

But Ms Hamilton hit back, saying Thomas "could pay by the end of March", adding that the whole process is "just nonsense".

Sub-postmasters have already submitted claims on previous occasions - some as early as 2013 - and are having to re-submit them.

"They could apply a broad brush approach, and if claims are reasonable, just pay them," she said, adding: "It’s almost like we’re being treated like criminals all over again."

Speaking for other scandal victims - Ms Hamilton settled for an undisclosed sum - she said some claims have not been submitted because sub-postmasters have to go to the Post Office, "who is a bit like the fox in the hen house", for evidence.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after the faulty Horizon IT accounting system made it look like money was missing from branch accounts.

It has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

Some sub-postmasters ended up going to prison, while many more were financially ruined and lost their livelihoods. Some died while waiting for justice.

Sir Alan leads the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance, campaigning for financial redress for the 555 victims who took part in the landmark group legal action against the Post Office that culminated in 2019.

Their compensation was, however, swallowed up by the huge legal costs involved in bringing their case.

The government went on to set up a specific compensation fund to give these sub-postmasters the redress like others affected, but Sir Alan has said the deadline is needed as three years have passed since.

Last month, Sir Alan questioned whether the government was dragging the "issue out to exhaust victims until their deaths" and if the scheme has become a "gravy train" for its lawyers.

A total of £265m has been spent on lawyers relating to the Post Office scandal from 2014 to 2024.

'Keep holding feet to fire'

Post Office minister Thomas told the BBC: "I agree with him, [Sir Alan] we need to make faster progress.

"We are trying to unblock the blockages and speed up the process of compensation," he added.

"There are four compensation schemes in place, two of which the government runs, and two of which the post office runs. I have looked at whether we should just start afresh but that would lead to further delays in getting money out of the door."

"My message...to him [Sir Alan] is keep holding our feet to the fire."