The Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, was Postal Affairs Minister between 2010 and 2012 right when the software issues with Horizon began to come to light.
Despite subpostmasters trying to raise this issue directly with his office, Sir Ed ignored their calls to meet in person and has since refused calls to apologise for his part in the scandal. When pushed ten times in a recent interview with ITV, Sir Ed did not say sorry, but only that he "regretted not doing more" and tried to distance himself from the issue.
The Horizon scandal, which took place from 1999 to 2015, saw 900 subpostmasters wrongfully prosecuted for theft and fraud, after computing errors showed shortfalls in their branches.
Former subpostmaster Scott Darlington, from Alderley Edge, who was convicted in 2010, said: “I couldn’t afford to pay for my daughter’s school uniform. I suffered awful stigma and embarrassment and financial distress ever since, and I am glad that things have come to a head and we are able to speak about it now."
Scott has said all those at fault need to be brought to account, “otherwise it won’t feel like justice”.
Ex-postmistress Sally Stringer called for the Lib Dem leader to resign on BBC Radio 5 Live last week, saying that in a letter she received fro Sir Ed, he was "fully aware" of what was going on in the Post Office he saw overseeing whilst Minister. This comes despite claims from Sir Ed himself that he was "lied to an industrial scale" about the goings on by officials. As Sally went on to say, "so either he is not telling the truth, or he is stupid."
As stated by BBC reporter, Nicky Campbell: "If Ed Davey wasn't Ed Davey, Ed Davey would be calling for Ed Davey to resign."
Despite these comments from Sally Stringer and dozens of other subpostmasters about Sir Ed Davey's role in the Horizon scandal, the Lib Dem candidate for Surrey Heath, Alasdair Pinkerton, rather than address the statements of those affected, has had fellow party activists call criticism of Sir Ed Davey as playing "political football".
Pictured, Sir Ed Davey with the Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Surrey Heath, Alasdair Pinkerton