01 May 2024 , 18:16
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Special delivery for Glastonbury!
Ex-posties will be appearing on stage at Glastonbury, to discuss the Post Office scandal.
Former postmaster Christopher Head will discuss the scandal alongside Billy Bragg and Labour MP Kate Osborne, after ITV’s drama series Mr Bates vs the Post Office highlighted the injustices suffered by many due to the faulty Horizon software.
Deputy leader of the Labour partyAngela Rayner will also discuss the upcoming election on a panel with the Green party’s Caroline Lucas, while another panel at the Left Field stage will host some - let’s assume lively - discussions about the Tories’ small boats policy. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham will also discuss the housing crisis in a separate panel.
(Getty Images)Organisers said: “Among our panellists are a number of Labour MPs who could be sitting in cabinet this time next year. Come along and let them know what kind of world you want to live in.”
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On the Pyramid stage, Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA will be headlining, while Shania Twain takes the legends spot, and Lulu makes an appearance as part of her farewell tour, following her 60 year career. Avril Lavigne, Cyndi Lauper and the Sugababes.
It comes after more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted for stealing because of incorrect information from a computer system called Horizon.
The Post Office itself took many cases to court, prosecuting 700 people between 1999 and 2015. Another 283 cases were brought by other bodies, including the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Many sub-postmasters went to prison for false accounting and theft, and several were financially ruined. In 2017, a group of 555 sub-postmasters took legal action against the Post Office. In 2019, it agreed to pay them £58m in compensation, but much of the money went on legal fees.
A draft report uncovered by the BBC showed the Post Office spent £100m fighting the group in court despite knowing its defence was untrue. The Post Office said it would be "inappropriate" to comment on the report.
Although campaigners won the right for their cases to be reconsidered, only 102 convictions had been overturned by March 2024. The Criminal Cases Review Commission said the scandal was "the most widespread miscarriage of justice" it had seen.
The Metropolitan Police is also investigating the Post Office over potential fraud offences.