The Post Office has lost the trust of the British people and cannot survive in its current state after the Horizon scandal, according to Lord Arbuthnot. 

Speaking on the Reaction Podcast, Lord Arbuthnot who has campaigned on the issue for many years, said that the Post Office has gone from being the most trusted brand in the country to a company that will struggle to survive. 

Lord Arbuthnot’s comments come after renewed interest in the Horizon software scandal on the back of ITV’s drama Mr Bates vs. The Post Office, in which he was portrayed by Alex Jennings. Faulty software called Horizon was provided to the Post Office by Fujitsu which falsely accused over 700 subpostmasters of theft and fraud. 

Arbuthnot said: “The Post Office, as one of the most trusted brands in the country, has become probably the least trusted brand in the country. It cannot actually survive as a brand, maybe it needs to be broken up.” 

He added that the service the Post Office provides is incredibly important and should not be lost altogether but instead replaced by community hubs. 

Lord Arbuthnot, who was an MP until 2015, also said that the high levels of trust the British public had in the Post Office made it more difficult to get justice for the falsely accused subpostmasters. 

“Here were some people who had in many cases pleaded guilty to criminal offences and they were up against what was the most trusted brand in the country, and trying to persuade people that the criminals were right and the most trusted brand was wrong was never going to be easy.”

When asked whether the government was at fault for what happened, Lord Arbuthnot slammed a “hands-off” approach that meant the government exonerated itself of responsibility. 

“They instituted distance management…and that made it very difficult to get ministers of any party to take the notice they should have.” 

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