MPs urge Fujitsu to make ‘immediate’ payment to Post Office Horizon victims

The Japanese tech company at the centre of the Post Office IT scandal is facing calls from a parliamentary committee to make an “immediate” payment towards the compensation bill for victims. Fujitsu supplied the faulty Horizon software to the UK Post Office, which led to branch operators being wrongly prosecuted over discrepancies in their business accounts. The scandal has been described as the worst miscarriage of justice in British history and was the subject of the acclaimed ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office. Thousands of post office operators are waiting for redress. Liam Byrne, the Labour MP who chairs the business and trade committee, said “justice delayed has become justice denied” for too many victims, and urged the government to “do whatever” it took to help them. “Years after this scandal was exposed, far too many people are still waiting for the redress they deserve,” he said. “The government must now throw whatever resource is needed at these schemes to ensure every outstanding Horizon shortfall claim is settled by the end of this year. Complexity is no longer an excuse for delay.” Byrne said Fujitsu must “stop sitting on the sidelines”, adding: “It is extraordinary that a company at the heart of the greatest miscarriage of justice in British history has still failed to set out either the scale or the timetable for its contribution to compensation. …