- Blair warned of Horizon
- Mandelson reassured approval
- System flaws, legal consequences
Before it was implemented, Sir Tony Blair was warned that the Horizon IT system at the centre of the Post Office scandal might be defective, according to a document.
The public inquiry on Friday published a handwritten note from the then-Labour prime minister, which indicates he expressed apprehensions after receiving a warning that the system was “possibly unreliable.”
Nonetheless, he stated that he approved of it after others reassured him otherwise.
Peter Mandelson, who was his trade and industry secretary at the time, was one of them.
Lord Mandelson stated in a letter dated 10 December 1998 that he considered Horizon to be the “only sensible course of action.”
Consequences of contract cancellation, he cautioned, would include “political fallout” stemming from the closure of post offices and strained relations with Fujitsu, a significant investor in the United Kingdom.
Both the letter and the submission to Sir Tony were previously presented during hearings at the 2021-initiated inquiry; however, their complete versions have now been made public.
Horizon Software Development Challenges
At this time, there was no evidence to suggest that the Horizon software would result in erroneous larceny accusations; however, apprehensions arose regarding its dependability and escalating price.
ICL, a Fujitsu-owned company, was developing Horizon in 1998 as a swipe card-based method for paying welfare benefits at post office terminals.
In the end, this component of the undertaking was eliminated, and the system was implemented in 1999 exclusively for functions such as inventory management and accounting.
A total of over 900 employees were prosecuted subsequent to the misuse of software that erroneously created the appearance of money being absent.
In 1998, the Horizon initiative, which commenced during the Conservative government of John Major, had fallen over two years behind schedule.
Sir Tony has been consulted regarding the continuation of the undertaking.
Extraordinarily costly
The system was characterised as “increasingly flawed” in a report by Downing Street special adviser Geoff Mulgan, which was submitted to the then-prime minister on December 9, 1998.
Mr. Mulgan cautioned that it would “prove unsatisfactory” “in the long run” and characterised it as “extremely costly, rigid, unsuitable, and potentially unreliable.”
Mr. Blair annotated the document with a handwritten notation requesting a “clear view” of its reliability.
His private secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, informed Mr. Mulgan on 14 December 1998 that the prime minister “clearly preferred to avoid cancelling the project.”
In prior testimonies, former Labour ministers’ witnesses, such as Alistair Darling and Stephen Byers, described how the government devised a variety of alternatives to save the failing scheme.
Sir Tony, in his 2022 witness statement submitted to the inquiry, cited a letter dated 10 December 1998 from Lord Mandelson as an illustration of the reassurance he had received.
Lord Mandelson stated in the letter that independent experts have conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the fundamental development work and deemed it viable, robust, and designed to accommodate future technological advancements.
“Naturally preoccupied”
Former ministers have not testified in their testimony to the inquiry that they were aware of particular issues that resulted in the erroneous accusation of larceny against sub-postmasters.
In his letter, Lord Mandelson additionally cautioned that in the event that the government terminated the contract, “our relations with Fujitsu, a significant foreign investor in the United Kingdom during the previous decade, would be profoundly harmed, along with the credibility” of Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs), an alternative approach to financing substantial undertakings.
Fujitsu announced the closure of a semiconductor facility in Sir Tony’s Sedgefield constituency in County Durham in September 1998, resulting in the elimination of 600 positions.
Sir Tony stated in his witness statement that he was “naturally concerned” about the repercussions of the closure, and he made a casual reference to it in a letter to the chairman of Fujitsu. Nevertheless, he stated that he could not recall this being pertinent to the issues under investigation.
Concerns were also expressed in Lord Mandelson’s letter to the then-Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Byers, which was transmitted to the prime minister. The letter also emphasised that the system was crucial for generating the foot traffic necessary to keep post offices operational.
“Political fallout will result regardless of how carefully we attempt to manage it,” he wrote, referring to “the damage to the confidence of sub-postmasters and the knock-on effect of network closures” that closing Horizon would cause.
The office of Lord Mandelson has been contacted for comment.
A Sir Tony Blair spokesperson stated, “As the documents unequivocally demonstrate, Mr. Blair approached the matter with utmost seriousness. As this was his primary concern, his response to the Mulgan note and in other exchanges was to raise the issue of the final project’s viability and dependability. Following this, he was granted these assurances.
The Horizon product’s severe flaws have now come to light, resulting in catastrophic and entirely unacceptable outcomes; he extends his deepest condolences to all those impacted.
Post Office scandal victims to be exonerated and compensated
