Post Office Mediation Scheme Debate
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Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston
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Post Office Mediation Scheme
Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston Excerpts(9 years, 5 months ago)
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Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)
The case of Haji Abbas, who runs the Selsey Road post office in Edgbaston, was investigated. He was found not guilty but his post office was closed. There was an allegation of his having lost £90,000, and he feels that he has lost an additional £60,000, yet the Post Office is not reopening the branch. Someone has lost their livelihood following unfair allegations, and nothing is being done to redeem it.
Mr Arbuthnot
I suspect that during the course of this debate we will hear all too many stories exactly like that one, with awful things happening to sub-postmasters and nothing being done about it. I have already mentioned my constituent Jo Hamilton, who pleaded guilty. She first found that there was a discrepancy of, I think, £2,000. She rang up the help desk, which told her to press certain buttons, and immediately the discrepancy doubled to £4,000. Eventually the discrepancy rose and rose to more than £30,000. There was no proper investigation by the Post Office. She told the “Today” programme last week,
“they couldn’t prove I did it, but I couldn’t prove I didn’t.”