Buckingham Palace confronted uproar final evening after it was revealed {that a} boss of the Japanese agency behind the Put up Workplace scandal has been invited to a lavish Royal banquet in London.
The Mail on Sunday has discovered that the Fujitsu consultant will be part of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh on the Guildhall through the present state go to of the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
Victims of the scandal reacted with fury, with one, Seema Misra, calling the choice to incorporate the expertise big ‘merely horrible’.
Mrs Misra, a former sub-postmistress wrongly jailed whereas she was pregnant, stated: ‘There isn’t any means Fujitsu ought to be invited. They’ve rather a lot to reply earlier than they do the rest.’
Fujitsu developed the Put up Workplace’s defective Horizon IT system, which led to lots of of postal staff being wrongly accused of theft and false accounting.
The Mail on Sunday has discovered {that a} Fujitsu consultant will be part of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh on the Guildhall through the present state go to of the Emperor and Empress of Japan (Inventory Picture)
Former sub-postmaster Sir Alan Bates (pictured, in February), knighted for his marketing campaign for justice on behalf of his fellow Put up Workplace staff, stated he hoped Prince Edward will take the prospect to boost the scandal with Fujitsu’s consultant
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pictured at Stansted Airport on Saturday. Emperor Naruhito is attending Wednesday’s banquet as a part of an eight-day go to
The system was launched in 1999 to simplify accounting and stocktaking. Inside days a helpline was receiving calls complaining about monetary anomalies, but these weren’t taken critically.
As an alternative, in what has been known as the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice, greater than 900 sub-postmasters had been prosecuted for stealing.
Put up Workplace chief government Paula Vennells was finally pressured out of workplace over the scandal, however Fujitsu, which supported the prosecutions, has largely escaped public accountability.
Former sub-postmaster Sir Alan Bates, knighted for his marketing campaign for justice on behalf of his fellow Put up Workplace staff, stated he hoped Prince Edward will take the prospect to boost the scandal with Fujitsu’s consultant.
‘I believe it is essential as a result of it is affected an terrible lot of lives on this nation,’ Sir Alan stated.
‘It is a main scandal. I might be delighted if he requested what they’re ready to do to redress it.’
Final week a sequence of Fujitsu bosses gave proof on the inquiry in London into the Put up Workplace’s warped campaign, which ruined so many individuals’s lives.
Regardless of campaigns, it took a long time for the organisation to confess that faults with Horizon had been behind lots of the monetary shortfalls in department accounts.
Varchas Patel, whose ex-postmaster father Vipinchandra, 70, was wrongfully convicted of stealing £75,000 earlier than his conviction was quashed in 2020, stated no person from Fujitsu ought to ‘mingle with Royalty till every sub-postmaster and mistress [case] has been totally settled’.
Emperor Naruhito is attending Wednesday’s banquet as a part of an eight-day go to. Fujitsu has confirmed that considered one of its representatives can be there ‘by invitation’.
Buckingham Palace declined to remark, however a supply confirmed the Guildhall banquet ‘is a part of the formal state go to’
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh pictured at Royal Ascot on Wednesday
Based in 1935, Fujitsu is value £58 billion, with its UK arm having gross sales of £1.3 billion final 12 months. Because the Authorities has grown ever extra depending on the agency’s software program, its curiosity in pursuing Fujitsu employees who insisted Horizon was infallible has remained low. Additionally it is eager to protect the 7,000 jobs created by the corporate.
The Metropolis of London Company stated: ‘We’re proud to host the Banquet at Guildhall through the state go to of the Emperor and Empress of Japan. This occasion marks the historic and robust ties between our two nations and is a vital second for the Metropolis, London and the entire nation. Visitor lists for state-visit banquets are compiled alongside Authorities departments and related embassies. We don’t touch upon particular person friends.’
Buckingham Palace declined to remark, however a supply confirmed the Guildhall banquet ‘is a part of the formal state go to’.
