The 70-year-old laughed as he suggested that Nick Read, who attended the inquiry today, could have sorted out remediation for his case 'there and then' while they were in the room together.
Lead campaigner and ex-subpostmaster Alan Bates joked that the head of the Post Office 'should've brought his cheque book' with him to the Horizon IT Inquiry.
The organisation has come under fire since the airing of the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which put the Horizon IT scandal under the spotlight. He joked that Nick Read, the CEO of the Post Office who was in attendance at the probe on Tuesday, should have 'brought his cheque book' to help settle remediation. Pictured: Mr Read at Portcullis House, Westminster, on January 16, this yearMr Bates gave evidence from the witness box today where he said his campaign for justice for subpostmasters was 'something you couldn't put down'.
He then joked that when he received his compensation he would 'buy a little Post Office somewhere and put my feet up'. Mr Bates told Aldwych House in London that he was 'quite positive' when the scandal-hit Horizon system came in, but soon became 'frustrated' after finding 'many shortcomings in the system'.Lead counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC detailed the Post Office's disclosure failingson MondayMr Bates had his contract terminated by the Post Office in 2003 after refusing to accept liability for shortfalls in the accounts at his Llandudno branch in North Wales.
He said: 'Prior to and since my termination from the branch, I have spent the last 23 years campaigning to expose the truth, and justice, not just for myself, but for the entire group of wrongly treated/wrongly convicted subpostmasters. He submitted a 58-page witness statement to the inquiry, in which he said the relationship between subpostmasters and the Post Office was 'very one-sided'.
Lead counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC asked: 'Were they of any assistance at all in those seven calls?'He chuckled before adding: 'Stating the bleeding obvious, I think, really, is one description I might use - but it was all things that I'd tried.' In another letter to the Post Office seen by the inquiry, dated January 7 2002, Mr Bates wrote: 'When I signed my contract with Post Office Counters, I did not sign to accept the liabilities arising from the shortcomings of a less than adequate Horizon system.'
The inquiry heard that Mr Bates received a letter terminating his employment in 2003 in which no reason for his dismissal was given. Also today, he told the inquiry that he took offence to a letter from former postal affairs minister Sir Ed Davey after he claimed the Government adopted an 'arm's length' relationship with the Post Office despite being its sole shareholder.
'It is because you have adopted an arm's length relationship that you have allowed a once great institution to be asset stripped by little more than thugs in suits, and you have enabled them to carry on with impunity regardless of the human misery and suffering they inflict.' 'Whilst I appreciate that the majority of the issues began under previous regimes and you have expressed a genuine willingness to address the concerns that the JSFA has been raising, these issues are still continuing.
In his witness statement, Mr Bates said: 'There was a concern that perhaps the information was not getting through to Ms Vennells, as I did not think her staff were feeding back to her. Mr Beer asked: 'Did you know or did you appreciate at the time that, notwithstanding what had been said by government ministers about operating an arm's length relationship with the Post Office, there was nonetheless a back channel of communications between the government and the Post Office?'The inquiry was also told that a lawyer from a firm instructed by the Post Office said Mr Bates had a 'somewhat loose relationship with the truth'.
Mr Bates replied: 'No. Andy Parsons was one of those who used to appear at the working group meetings - one of the many lawyers the Post Office used to send to them.'I don't know why he's come up with that - I might embellish but I don't lie. I suppose I spend too much time around lawyers now and then so wording and phrasing can sometimes seem a little bit that way.'
When asked for his thoughts on the culture of the Post Office, the former subpostmaster told the inquiry: 'It's an atrocious organisation. Edward Henry KC, who represents a number of subpostmasters, asked: 'You've exposed over many years the Post Office's suppression of disclosure covering up the truth over Horizon's flaws, but you have also exposed, have you not, the Government's reckless indifference to the Post Office's misconduct over many years, would you agree?'
In February, Mr Bates gave evidence to the Business and Trade Committee where he urged the Government to 'get on and pay people' while describing the Post Office as a 'dead duck'.The inquiry is now entering phases five and six, which will look at governance, redress and how the Post Office and others responded.
'The alternative - further delay, to allow the Post Office to get its disclosure house in order - is not one which is acceptable.'Other prominent witnesses soon to give evidence include Lord Arbuthnot, member of the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board and former MP for North East Hampshire, who campaigned for years on behalf of subpostmasters.
She added: 'I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence. Liberal Democrat politicians Sir Vince Cable, the former business secretary, party leader Sir Ed Davey, who was postal affairs minister from May 2010 to February 2012, and Jo Swinson, postal affairs minister from September 2012 to May 2015, will all appear as witnesses.
'During the past six weeks, since the inquiry announced its current hearings timetable, we have disclosed the vast majority of documents required for those witnesses but regret a very small proportion of documents were not disclosed as early as all parties would have liked.
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