Alan Bates should be afforded more than a knighthood for his role in exposing the Post Office scandal, Michael Crick has argued.
The campaigner lifted the lid on the affair after he was accused of theft during his time as a subpostmaster.
Bates, who worked in north Wales, had the accusation levelled at him when his money stock counts did not match those of the digital accounting system.
According to broadcaster Michael Crick, Bates should not only be given a knighthood, but he should also be taking a seat in the House of Lords.
Michael Crick wants Alan Bates in the House of Lords
PA / GB NEWS
Crick had particular praise for Bates’s ability to not hold grudges, after he argued against Ed Davey being stripped of his knighthood for his role in the scandal.
“I thought, there is a genuinely decent person”, he said.
“He’s not angry. I mean, obviously inside he is as you know the horror of what’s happened.
“He hasn’t overreacted perhaps in the way that I am and I thought that he should be put in the House of Lords.
“It would be good to have somebody like that in the House of Lords that could comment on things like this.”
Blanket legislation to exonerate subpostmasters convicted in England and Wales will be introduced within weeks.
Alan Bates was backed for a seat in the House of Lords
GB NEWS
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said they were victims of “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history”.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sunak said: “This is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history.
“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation.”
Those whose convictions are quashed are eligible for a £600,000 compensation payment, or potentially more if they go through a process of having their claim individually assessed.
The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after ITV broadcast the drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, which highlighted the scandal earlier this month.
Alan Bates, the campaigning former subpostmaster the series centred on, welcomed the “good news” but said the fight is not over for many of those still awaiting compensation.
“It is a leap forward, but it ain’t over yet,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One programme.
“The devil is in the detail and we’re yet to see that. We’re still going to have to keep pushing the whole issue forward until everyone is sorted.”
