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Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Oldest surviving victim of the Post Office scandal savages Keir Starmer for 'continuing this little game' as she reveals she STILL hasn't been compensated
The oldest surviving victim of the Post Office Horizon scandal has hit out at the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after revealing she is still waiting for her full compensation. Betty Brown, 92, from Stanley, Durham, appeared on ITV 's Good Morning Britain on Tuesday and revealed she is convinced she will never see compensation in her lifetime. More than 900 sub-postmasters were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their accounts. Hundreds are still awaiting compensation despite the previous government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts. The Post Office has paid out roughly £438 million to 3,100 claimants. But Mrs Brown says she is not one of those claimants. The Durham native ran her Post Office in the small town of Stanley with her husband Oswald for more than 70 years. During her decades-long service to the community, the postmistress said her world was turned upside down with the introduction of the Horizon system which regularly reported that there were shortfalls in her till of up to £1,500 a day. Despite contacting the Post office helpline for support, Mrs Brown took the drastic step of using her life savings, more than £100,000 to plug the gap. Speaking on the ITV breakfast show, the widow added that the stress of it led her husband to an early grave. And she has now hit out at the Prime Minister and accused him of playing games instead of supporting those who were wrongly accused of stealing. Mrs Brown told Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid that she feels she has been treated poorly but is determined not to give up and even at 92 will keep fighting for her money back. 'The determination I have will keep me going, and the anger even after 25 years, they stole my money after serving them for 76 years serving, my husband and I together.' Mrs Brown also explained that and that she believes Sir Keir has been dragging his feet when it comes to ensuring victims are paid their full compensation. 'I can't understand why people like me are still yet to get justice and that's what we want. It's absolutely disgusting the way we've been treated. Diabolical.' Mrs Brown added that she believes the Labour leader has all the necessary information to ensure the process is concluded as quickly as possible. 'He wants to do the deed, why is he carrying on, why is he continuing this little game he has?' she said. Mrs Brown told Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid (pictured left) that she is determined not to give up and even at 92 will keep fighting for her money back The widower also explained that and that she believes Sir Keir has been dragging his feet when it comes to ensuring victims are paid their full compensation 'He has all the information, all the experts who have investigated. Everything is there; accountants, medical professionals, all he has to do - it's all been analysed - he just has to put it together and get it finished.' The widower called on Sir Keir to honour the repayments, and told the ITV hosts: 'Whenever these experts decide on a figure, 100 per cent must be paid and the PM must recognise it must all be paid'. The Durham native went on to explain that she had been desperate to prove her innocence and regularly called in to the Post Office helpline to update them on the reported shortfall but was told it was her fault. She said: 'I had a standing arrangement with my area manager. Every Thursday morning I had to phone the Post Office phone line, I had to tell them the balance from the night before. 'They knew but there was no support and I was told I was the only one it was happening to.' Mrs Brown also revealed that the Post Office encouraged her to retire early because of the issues around her Horizon system and their decision crushed her husband who was suffering from cancer at the time and became fixated on the correspondence from the Post Office head office. The widower called on Sir Keir to honour the repayments and said: 'Whenever these experts decide on a figure, 100 per cent must be paid and the PM must recognise it must all be paid' 'Every time you walked in to the room he was sitting on the settee reading this [letter] and I'd go away and when I'd go in he'd be reading again and I had to hide it to stop him reading it. 'The last words he ever said when the took ill, he had cancer like the king and he had dealt with this for 15 years, the experts in Newcastle that treated him couldn't believe it, they successfully treated him for 15 years but when [the letter] came he went gradually downhill. 'I used to go on the bus and he'd be sitting up in the bed and the first thing he always said was "any word from the Post Office?" and the next day "any word form the Post Office?" and this went on all the time and one day I went in and he said "they don't intent to do anything, how could they do anything like that to us?"' 'They were all his friends over the years and he trusted them 200 per cent but how could they do that to us?'.
Telegraph
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Head of ITV hits out at compensation delay for Horizon victims
The head of ITV demanded faster compensation for Post Office scandal victims after the drama that brought the scandal to national attention received a Bafta. Mr Bates vs the Post Office was named best limited drama at the Bafta Television Awards on Sunday night, and ITV received the Special Award for commissioning it. More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongfully prosecuted after bugs in the Post Office's faulty Horizon system led to shortfalls in their branch accounts. Victims are still fighting for compensation almost 18 months after the drama led to a national outcry. Kevin Lygo, ITV's director of television, said: 'It has been successful in every way except one – which is that they still, many of them, have not got their compensation. 'So I say to whoever is in charge of sorting out the compensation: will you hurry up and pay these people what they are due?' Gwyneth Hughes, who wrote the drama, said: 'It's not over yet. It's a complicated situation. There are several different compensation schemes going on and they are all mired in different parts of the Government. Nobody seems to know what's happening. 'Our main characters have not been paid, they haven't got their compensation. It's been going for 25 years.' Hughes said she hoped the Bafta wins would refocus attention, adding: 'If we're on front pages tomorrow waving our statuettes, then that's bound to get it back in people's consciousness and get people to make an effort.' Lygo said public service television had a long tradition of shining a light on miscarriages of justice, 'but nothing, I think, has had quite the effect Mr Bates has had'. Wins for Mr Bates aside, the Baftas were dominated by the BBC, while Netflix picked up just one award. Blue Lights, the Northern Ireland police drama, won best drama series, while Mr Loverman, an adaptation of Bernardine Evaristo's novel about late-life gay love, won two acting awards – leading actor for Lennie James and supporting actor for Ariyon Bakare. Marisa Abela won the leading actress prize for her performance in Industry. Netflix won best supporting actress for Baby Reindeer's Jessica Gunning, while Adolescence, which has become the nation's most talked-about show and a critical hit for Netflix, missed the cut-off for entry, but is eligible for next year's awards. The gong for television's most memorable moment of 2024, the only category chosen by the public, went to Strictly Come Dancing for Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell's dance to You'll Never Walk Alone. Best entertainment programme was Would I Lie To You?, while Clive Myrie's Caribbean Adventure won best daytime programme and Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour won the award for factual entertainment. Disney's remake of Shogun won the international category. Two documentaries covering the Israel-Gaza conflict, Life and Death in Gaza (BBC) and State of Rage (Channel 4) received prizes. Gavin and Stacey's final instalment was controversially snubbed by Bafta and omitted from the comedy category, but Ruth Jones won for female comedy performer. She accepted the award in the voice of her character, Nessa, saying: 'This is crackin'.' The BBC also won best live event coverage for Glastonbury 2024, a first Bafta for coverage of the music festival in three decades. The Traitors lost out in all of its categories, beaten in the best reality category by The Jury: Murder Trial, a Channel 4 programme that re-enacted a real-life murder case and invited participants to reach their own verdict. Accepting their award, The Jury's producers said it 'proved that reality TV can actually be about something'. Alan Cumming, the Scottish actor and presenter of the US version of The Traitors, hosted the ceremony from London's Royal Festival Hall, joking that being asked to do so was 'the 12th biggest honour of my life'. Kirsty Wark, the presenter of Newsnight for 30 years until her retirement from the show last summer, received the Bafta Fellowship. She reminisced about starting her career in the days of shoulder pads and the office drinks trolley, and thanked a sisterhood of female colleagues, including one who helpfully pointed out moments before Wark went on air that she had her Vivienne Westwood skirt tucked into her pants.
