Part of Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill – in the House of Commons am 7:15 pm ar 23 Mai 2024.
With the leave of the House, I have a few final comments. The shadow Minister asked about the Capture software that was used prior to the Horizon software. Mr Jones has pushed strongly on these matters, and we are having an independent investigation into them, which we anticipate will report later this year. I am sure that he will take a keen interest in that, as will those on the Opposition Front-Bench team. It is important that we get redress as soon as possible. The Bill opens the door to rapid redress for hundreds of victims of this scandal. We believe that we can get redress paid from July onwards, when the new scheme will be put in place. On the Court of Appeal, we are very interested to ensure that those people also get a fair hearing, and a rapid rehearing of their cases, and can be exonerated wherever possible.
I thank many of my predecessors who worked on this, not least my hon. Friend Paul Scully, who did a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances. Clearly, Marion Fellows has done a tremendous job on the all-party parliamentary group on post offices. It is always a pleasure to work with her. We do not always see eye to eye, but we usually do. I understand her points on Scotland. Of course, the legislation is now in its final state and, hopefully, Scotland will be able to effect it before the Scottish Parliament’s recess, which is only a few weeks away. It shows what can be done when we all work together, as the right hon. Member for North Durham says.
The right hon. Member does tremendous work on the Horizon redress advisory board, which is the reason we are here. Victims of this horrendous scandal want to see two things: redress paid for their losses, and people held to account. Both those things will be achieved because of his work and that of the noble Lord Arbuthnot. I do not believe that either of those things would have happened had they not worked as hard as they have. The shocking evidence to the inquiry this week has been revealed because of their work, and we should be grateful to them. I concur with the right hon. Member: many people are cynical about this place, or people’s motivations for entering it, but people enter this place to try to do some good and make change for the better. He has, both Houses have, and it is my pleasure to have been a part of it, too.