FUJITSU must have a “moral obligation” to contribute to compensation for postmasters caught in the Horizon IT scandal, according to the chair of the Commons Business and Trade Select Committee.
Officials from the firm are due to appear before the committee on Tuesday to answer questions about the affair.
Liam Byrne MP told GB News: “We’ve had a week of debate about this in the House of Commons and there are still these big questions unanswered. And of course one of those questions is what frankly should Fujitsu, who built this failing system, contribute to the compensation.
“I think it’s clear that their system went wrong and they surely must at the very least have a moral obligation to help contribute to that whacking great compensation bill because, as you say, why should taxpayers have to front up half a billion pounds?”
In a discussion with Camilla Tominey, he continued: “Now, we don’t know this but if it’s true that somebody in Fujitsu was waving a red flag or they knew that something was going wrong, did they stay silent when innocent people were going to prison, did they put profit before people?
“…I think the question for us on Tuesday is how do we make sure that justice is delayed no longer? Parliament I think has a clear view that these convictions need to be overturned and settlements need to be made.
“So, we need to know how fast is that going to happen, when is the new legislation going to arrive and, crucially, who the hell is going to pay for it?”
He added: “We’ll be hearing from Mr Bates and we are bringing together lots of evidence from sub-postmasters around the country.
“Because the key thing that really worries me is that we’re three or four years on from the landmark trial now, but only 15% of the convictions have been overturned and only 4% of the payments have been settled.”
