Statement from NFSP CEO Calum Greenhow following today's evidence at the Horizon Inquiry

The NFSP of today has been shocked by the evidence of its former General Secretary, George Thomson, given today. This is especially so given the number of people who suffered as a result of the Horizon scandal and the clear evidence at the Inquiry which shows that Horizon was not “robust”.  

We want to apologise unreservedly to any member who sought help from the NFSP about Horizon and didn’t receive the support they so desperately needed and deserved.  It is clear that more could and should have been done for them and for others.  Sadly, due to Mr Thomson’s position on Horizon during his time as General Secretary, this did not happen and for that we are truly sorry.

We believe the evidence today showed that during Mr Thomson’s tenure between 2007 and 2018 he did not take seriously enough the significant warning signals about Horizon and was not willing to accept challenges to his views on it. We believe the evidence also shows his relationship with senior Post Office personnel was too close, to the detriment of those raising issues about Horizon.  

That is not the case for the NFSP of today. We are fully open, transparent and public in our condemnation of the Post Office and the way in which they lied to the NFSP and everyone else about Horizon and then deliberately covered up what they knew for many years.  This resulted in postmasters, assistants and employees of the Post Office having their lives utterly ruined.

I and my fellow postmaster colleagues of the NFSP, some of whom are victims themselves, are determined to continue engaging with and helping the Inquiry in any way we can to uncover the truth of what happened over the past 20 years.