Subpostmasters have branded the Post Office’s (PO) attempts to ‘reset’ its relationship with its retailers a sham after a senior PO figure was caught accusing Horizon victims of criminality.
Covert recordings from 2020 reveal the now suspended senior PO executive Richard Taylor suggesting that some postmasters prosecuted during the Horizon IT scandal stole money, and denying there was proof that its faulty IT system caused retailers losses.
Richard Taylor held the role of ‘group corporate affairs, communication and brand director’ at the PO.
The views were revealed on TalkTV by journalist Nick Wallis. In the recording, Taylor said: “The problem with £30k cash in a safe is that you’ve got 11.5k post officers and some of those people might decide, not with any particular intent, to borrow that money for a little while.”
The recording continued: “Well, some of them downright stole it. There are probably some people for whom they have been hard done by. But some other people, they did steal the money. At the moment, the narrative is that they’re all innocent and they all need to be vindicated.”
The recording also reveals the individual incorrectly claiming that “it’s never been proven that there was a link between the computer glitch and anybody actually losing money”.
In fact, in the 2019 Group Litigation Order ruling, the judge ruled: “It has actually happened and on numerous occasions.”
Post Office reponse
A PO spokesperson told Better Retailing: “We became aware overnight of a recording that included comments made by Richard Taylor, and whilst we are not privy to the full conversation and the associated context, we have suspended him with immediate effect pending an investigation, and we will follow due process thereafter.
“PO remains focused on addressing the wrongs of the past, and welcomes the government’s recent intervention to expedite justice and compensation for postmasters.”
Retailers demand radical change
The exposure of Taylor’s comments comes amid the National Federation of Subpostmasters (NFSP) writing an open letter to PO minister Kevin Hollinrake, demanding that governance of the PO is ‘radically altered’, with the organisation to be placed in ‘voluntary receivership’ with the board ‘immediately removed’, and a new governance structure ‘implemented’.
The letter also requests that the government provide reassurance it is committed to postmasters who face a potential public boycott due to uproar resulting from the TV drama depicting the scandal released at the start of this year.
The PO is under further pressure as a recent survey of nearly 100 members and other subpostmasters by the Communications Workers Union (CWU) was shared with Better Retailing. It revealed that 80% of respondents do not trust the PO. The same number had ‘no confidence at all’ in the PO board. Seventy per cent said chief executive Nick Read had failed to reset the relationship with subpostmasters, while 73% said the government is failing to hold the PO to account.
CWU subpostmaster branch secretary Sean Hudson said the stats undermine the PO claims that it is improving its relationship with retailers.
In response to the survey, a PO spokesperson said: “In a recent postmaster survey, undertaken in November 2023, there was an increase in postmasters feeling supported by PO, and in those who felt there was a more valued or equal business relationship. Whilst there is still much to do, we are determined to continue to support our postmasters, who are the lifeblood of our business, and their communities.”
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