LUKE MARSDEN: tech firm should foot the bill for wronged postmasters

​Like many across the country and our town, I’m left reeling at how a large group of people can be treated so badly by another large group of people.

How can this be fixed? I certainly think Saint Paula Vennells handing back her CBE is a tiny drop in this large mailing mess of an ocean. How will she even send it back, special delivery?

I admire the Government’s latest announcement that legislation will be brought in to pardon the sub-postmasters and begin a decent compensation process, but why did it take an ITV drama to bring this conversation back to life?

It should never have got to this point. Every second of every day people make decisions.

I made a decision to write this column on this topic so who made the decision that Horizon could have the sweeping and nefarious powers it ended up having and wrecking the lives of sub-postmasters across the UK?

Someone chose to have Horizon contain that power and that person (or persons) should be criminally accountable.

I don’t believe the taxpayer should foot the bill for this.

Fujitsu should be opening up their vast bank account and putting this right. Of course, that would mean accepting responsibility which is not the thing to do these days.Fujitsu currently has contracts within the Government. All of these should now be reviewed in light of what we know.

For the sub-postmasters across the UK, this saga has been grinding on for decades and perhaps they thought they would never see light at the end of the tunnel; but now they can.

They have been battered down but have stood back up and it is now on all of us, including Government and Opposition, to stand up for them!