Post Office scandal: Sir Ed Davey's unsurprising response after he's asked to apologise to Greater Manchester victims

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Sir Ed Davey has refused to apologise to victims of the Post Office scandal from Greater Manchester. The Lib Dem leader has come under fire after it was revealed that while serving as postal affairs minister he initially refused to meet former sub-postmaster Alan Bates, a campaigner who fought for justice for the people impacted.

Sir Ed held the role between 2010 to 2012 in the Lib Dem-Tory coalition government. Around 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015 when it had prosecution powers, but a 20-year campaign has brought the scandal to light and helped to overturn some of these. READ MORE: Greater Manchester man who started petition to strip Post Office boss Paula Vennells of CBE speaks out Among the victims are residents of Greater Manchester such as Mohammed Rasul from Salford, who told BBC Breakfast earlier this month that he was falsely convicted and missed seeing his father die because he couldn't leave his home due to a curfew.

During a visit to a primary school in Stockport today, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) asked Sir Ed if he would apologise to the victims in this region.

He said: "My heart goes out to those sub-postmasters, hundreds of them who were treated so badly by the Post Office. I have a postmaster in my own constituency who came to me just two years ago who was prosecuted back in 2009. "He served 16 months in prison for something he didn't do, he was bullied by the Post Office to say he was guilty when he wasn't, and what I've noticed and I'm sure that many other ministers who had this responsibility over 20 years - Labour, Conservative and others - probably feel like I do.