SHARON HODGON MP: Justice for Sub-Postmasters is very welcome, but many scandals lack the same public exposure

The scandal saw more than 900 sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted after faulty software displayed money missing from their branches. As a result, the victims and their families have faced dire consequences including financial destitution, prison sentences and alienation from their communities.

While the statutory inquiry has been ongoing since 2021, it was only following a hugely successful new-year ITV docudrama that this issue has been taken seriously by the Government. I congratulate those behind the ITV production who understand the power of their medium.

The Government has promised victims swift acquittal and compensation, this includes tabling emergency legislation to achieve this. This has left many wondering why, if it was so easy to do, redress has been put off for so long.

Of course, it is wonderful to see justice for sub-postmasters following their hard-fought campaign. However, many scandals suffer from the same wilful inaction from the Government much like the sub-postmasters. Diana Johnson’s infected blood campaign, which recently saw some success following a large government rebellion, continues to face challenges in achieving compensation as the Government failed to commit to a timescale. Why can the Conservatives not act with the same speed for these similarly horrifying miscarriages of justice?

Meanwhile, I know as co-chair (alongside Baroness Cumberlege) of the First Do No Harm APPG that countless women are being let down while the government refuses to acknowledge the harm done by faulty medical technologies, such as Primodos, sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The APPG focuses on building awareness of, and support for the recommendations, in “First Do No Harm”, the report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, and to ensure the implementation of the recommendations by the UK Government and others. Principally, the issue of redress which the Government has rejected.

This is disappointing considering the current Chancellor and former Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt MP, has in past endorsed the recommendations of the report. Campaigners have been fighting for justice for families harmed by hormone pregnancy tests (Primodos) in the courts, but no scientific connection between the product and pregnancy complications were found, and the claims were dismissed in May last year. Despite this, other countries such as Germany have undertaken their own reviews into Primodos.

It is shameful that scandals, when acknowledged, are not immediately redressed. Instead victims, who are often at the worst point in their lives, are forced to fight for the justice they should be entitled to.