Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has acknowledged his role in the failures that led to the wrongful convictions of sub-postmasters within the Post Office. Speaking at the ongoing Post Office inquiry, Sir Vince, who served as business secretary from 2010 to 2015, admitted that there was a “clearly a policy failure” under his watch when it came to overseeing the Post Office.
Despite being aware of previous issues with “arrogant” management due to his past dealings with the company as an MP, Sir Vince stated that he was guided by departmental officials not to interfere in operational matters at the Post Office. He also agreed with campaigner Sir Alan Bates’ description of Post Office executives as “thugs in suits.”
Under questioning from counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC, Sir Vince maintained that he had no knowledge of the Post Office’s private prosecution of sub-postmasters during his time as secretary of state. He also stated that issues with the Horizon accounting systems, provided by Fujitsu, “barely came across [his] desk” and when they did, it was in a “very uncontroversial way.”
Between 1999 and 2015, over 700 sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted of charges such as theft and false accounting, all related to their use of the Horizon accounting systems. While all have been cleared, many are still awaiting compensation. The inquiry is currently examining various aspects of behavior surrounding the Horizon system over the years, with a focus on cover-ups, particularly within the Post Office itself.
In his witness statement to the inquiry, Sir Vince expressed his regret for the harm caused to the victims, stating, “These abuses occurred under a large number of ministers in Labour, coalition and Conservative governments and we all share some responsibility for the fact that this happened on our watch. I accept my share of that responsibility and apologize to the victims for the fact that they were so grievously let down.”
He also acknowledged the damage done to trust in official advice due to the dishonesty of Post Office officials, stating that this also affects the proper functioning of the government.
During his testimony on Thursday, Sir Vince stated that while he found it difficult to pinpoint specific events or decisions that could have been handled differently, he accepted his formal responsibility as the head of the department under which the Post Office fell. He stated that this was a “state enterprise” and that it happened under their watch, acknowledging the cliche but emphasizing the importance of ministers recognizing their responsibility.
When asked by Mr. Beer what exactly he was accepting responsibility for, Sir Vince replied, “General oversight of the department and this was an area of the department where, clearly, there was a policy failure.”
