Development on a story which has dominated the headlines for the past week thanks to a tv drama. the prime minister has announced new legislation, to make sure that hundreds of post office branch managers convicted in one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice the uk has ever seen are swiftly exonerated and compensated. more than 700 sub postmasters were given criminal convictions for fraud and false accounting over a period of around 16 years after it introduced a faulty it system. some went to prison. many were bankru pted. we ll get reaction from one sub postmaster in a moment but first our political correspondent iain watson reports. the post office told us over and over. you re the only one. that was a lie, actually, because. itv made a drama out of a crisis, a scandal that started more than 20 years ago came to public and political prominence.
Their liberty and their livelihood and they ve been waiting far too long for the truth, forjustice and for compensation, so i m glad the prime minister is putting forward a proposal. we will look at the details and think it s the job of all of us and i think it s the job of all of us to make sure that it delivers the justice that is so needed. this has been described by the justice secretary as an unprecedented scandal. and passing a law to exoneration whole swathes of people all at once and passing a law to exonerate whole swathes of people all at once is certainly seen as a radical step. but some have doubts about politicians invading the territory usually occupied byjudges. some of those who have reviewed miscarriages ofjustice believe there is a better solution than an act of parliament. it s only the court of appeal that can definitively say in each individual case, this conviction is unsafe and therefore must be quashed. acts of parliament
Won t really do that. but what of the company behind the glitchy computer system? fujitsu has been awarded other government contracts worth billions of pounds. but ministers say they won t act until after a public inquiry has concluded. there are some questions about who is more responsible, fujitsu or post office or others? when the inquiry has identified responsibility, then those questions can be answered. today s announcement on exoneration and compensation will be welcomed by many victims of the scandal, but their long wait forjustice isn t over yet. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. lee castleton was left bankrupt after his battle with the post office and his story features prominently in that tv drama which has propelled this into the spotlight. lee welcomes the prime minister s annoucement. hejoined me a little earlier and he told me his reaction
More than 700 post office branch managers saying, were given criminal convictions and only 93 of those convictions have been overturned by the courts. a fraction of those affected by the scandal, some of whom have never spoken publicly before appeared on bbc breakfast this morning. frances reed has their stories. the people who run them are pillars of the community, trusted in every village and town. what they were accused of, they say, ruined their lives. the numbers affected, shocking. hundreds of wrongful convictions with imprisonments, bankruptcies and even people taking their own lives. so we re going to ask each individual to tell that story. the bbc spoke to a handful of victims today, including those who were told to plead guilty to avoid jail time. frankly, it wrecked my life, my family s life, and everybody i know s life. it was the most horrendous thing i have ever been through. for people like janet, it is still too raw.
Dominated the headlines for the past week. the prime minister has announced that new legislation will be brought in to make sure that those convicted in one of the biggest miscarriages ofjustice the uk has ever seen. who worked for the post office are swiftly exonerated and compensated. more than 700 sub postmasters received criminal convictions for fraud and false accounting, over a period of around 16 years, after it introduced a faulty it system. some went to prison and many were made bankrupt. we ll get reaction from one sub postmaster in a moment but first our political correspondent iain watson reports. the post office told us over and over, you re the only one. that was a lie, actually. itv made a drama out of a crisis, a scandal that started more than 20 years ago came to public and political prominence.