Post Office insisted computer system was reliable, says Black Country MP who was minister at time of Horizon scandal
An MP from the West Midlands who was minister for postal affairs during the time of the Horizon scandal has told how he repeatedly assured by Post Office chiefs that there was not a problem.
Pat McFadden, Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East, said he raised questions with the Post Office a number of times while minister for postal affairs from 2007-2009.
The Horizon Post Office scandal, which featured in last week's television drama Mr Bates Vs the Post Office, saw more than 700 post office workers convicted of theft or false accounting because of a glitch in a computer system.
Among those convicted were Rubbina Shaheen, 58, who kept a post office in Shrewsbury, Carl Page, 57, who kept a branch in Rugeley, and 41-year-old Tracy Felstead from Telford. They all served jail terms, but had their convictions overturned in April 2021. However, more than 600 others are still waiting to have their appeals heard.
Mr McFadden said he had been contacted by a number of MPs about the matter when he was a minister.
