Tony Blair was warned that ditching the flawed Horizon system would have ‘profound implications’ for the UK’s relations with Japan, documents show.
Then prime minister, he said he favoured pressing ahead with Fujitsu’s software for the Post Office despite being warned it had been ‘plagued with problems’.
Notes from 1998 show the prime minister was warned by the UK’s ambassador to Japan that abandoning the deal, agreed under John Major’s Conservative government, would have ‘profound implications… for bilateral ties’ with Tokyo.
Sir Geoff Mulgan, a No 10 adviser to Sir Tony, told the Sunday Telegraph that a reluctance to strain relations with Japan ‘had a big influence’ on decision-making over Horizon.
In another memo that year, Sir Geoff warned the prime minister: ‘Overall, Horizon now looks increasingly flawed.’
He added: ‘Fujitsu have provided the financial commitment to secure a deal. This is a sign of how important the project is for them.’ The then Labour leader wrote that the primary concern was the system’s technical capability, adding: ‘The risks are pretty even, probably coming down on the side of continuing.’
The then trade and industry secretary Peter Mandelson, in a memo, said he believed the ‘only sensible choice is to proceed with the Horizon project’, because it offered the least risk. He wrote of the potential impact of tearing up the agreement: ‘Our relations with Fujitsu, a major inward investor into the UK over the past decade, would be severely damaged.’ The flawed accounting software led to the prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters.
A spokesman for Sir Tony said: ‘In respect of the issue of the relationship with Japan, as [Sir Tony] made clear in his evidence to the (public) inquiry, that was one of a number of factors. It is now clear that the Horizon product was seriously flawed, leading to tragic and completely unacceptable consequences, and [Sir Tony] has deep sympathy with all those affected.’
The revelations came as Lord Cameron told Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that he did not recall being briefed about the scandal in his time as prime minister, from 2010 to 2016.
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