Nigel Farage has lambasted the Post Office for running something like an “extortion racket” during the Horizon scandal.
Hundreds of subpostmasters were accused of stealing money when in fact the IT system they were using was faulty.
Campaigners like Alan Bates spent years fighting to uncover the truth, with convictions of those jailed for stealing overturned many years later.
The scandal, which first came to light over a decade ago, has caught national attention in recent days due to the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which chronicles the victim’s battle for justice.
There has been particular outrage that Post Office executives were awarded bonuses during the scandal.
Speaking on his evening GB News show, Mr Farage blasted the “horrendous culture that existed within the Post Office”.
“Frankly, it looks like almost some sort of extortion racket to me. It is a disgrace,” he said.
“This story really has caught the public mood in the most extraordinary way. It’s the little guy against the global corporates. That’s how it looks, that’s how it feels and the Government has moved.”
In recent days, the Conservatives have promised to pass emergency legislation to exonerate victims of the Post Office scandal.
At the public inquiry into the Horizon scandal on Thursday, Post Office investigators were accused of “behaving like Mafia gangsters looking to collect their bounty with threats and lies”.
However, Stephen Bradshaw, a Post Office investigator who appeared at Thursday’s hearing, refuted the claims.
Just a day earlier, a “horrified” Mr Farage highlighted the shame of “ordinary folk getting crushed” by the scandal.
