Sir Keir Starmer was Director of Public Prosecutions between 2008 and 2013. Photo: PA
Sir Keir Starmer admitted he made “mistakes” when he headed the Crown Prosecution Service but insisted he has “no skeletons in his closet” as he faces questions over his role in the post office.
The Labor leader was director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013 and the CPS admitted it was involved in 11 criminal cases brought over issues related to the Horizon IT system. Three resulted in convictions.
A faulty computer system is blamed for the wrongful convictions of hundreds of subpostmasters, in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.
Speaking on Keir Starmer: Up Close Tonight, which airs on ITV1 on Thursday, Sir Keir said there was no “smoking gun” about his role in the cases and suggested questions about whether he knew whether he was about prosecution were part of the pattern of attacks from political opponents.
“Look, this is going to be personal. It’s never pleasant,” he said.
“But if they want to attack me for decisions when I was director of the prosecutor’s office. . . we had 7,000 employees and made almost a million decisions a year.
“Will there be errors? Of course it will be. But there will be no smoking gun, no skeletons in the closet.”
Sir Keir, whose opinion polls show he is likely to become the next Prime Minister, had to explain his role in the prosecution and to apologize to the victims and their families.
The Labor Party said Sir Keir was unaware of the cases and “calling for swift acquittal and compensation for the victims.”
It comes as current and former employees of Fujitsu – the multibillion-dollar firm that produced and serviced the flawed Horizon software – are testifying in an investigation into the scandal.
On Wednesday, the investigation revealed that Fujitsu employees said they feared they would be “pulled out of the coals” after they realized the Post Office had used “manipulated” audit data for a criminal investigation into deputy postmasters.
“I served Corbyn but never thought that he will win”
Sir Keir also admitted he never thought Jeremy Corbyn would win the 2019 general election and served in his shadow cabinet only to stop Conservative Brexit plans.
He said he did not vote for his predecessor, but continued in his position as Shadow Brexit Secretary because he felt a “responsibility” for being involved in deciding how the UK would leave the European Union.
Sir Keir declined to say whether he wanted Mr Corbyn to become prime minister, but said: “I didn't think Labor could win the last election.”
He added: “Obviously I didn't vote for Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 or 2016. On the contrary, I have resigned.”
Sir Keir resigned as shadow immigration minister in 2016 in protest at Mr Corbyn's actions. leadership, but later that year took up a new post with the Brexit brief, which he held for four years.
He said he felt a “responsibility” to take on the role and derail the Tories' Brexit policy. During this time he campaigned for a second referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.
“I thought that once the Brexit referendum took place in 2016, I am of the opinion that what followed in the coming years a few years, will be felt for generations,” Sir Keir said. “And I thought it was my responsibility to play a full role in this.”
Labor suffered a disastrous defeat in 2019 and after winning the 2020 leadership election, Sir Keir moved the party to the right. and distanced himself from Corbyn's policies.
He is likely to become the next prime minister, with opinion polls predicting a Labor majority at the next election this fall.
If he comes to power, Sir Keir said he was unlikely to be as bold as Tony Blair, the last Labor leader to win a general election, because he would inherit a “dire situation” from the Tories.
Sir Keir echoed comments by Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, that the Labor government does not intend to tax the richest and redistribute wealth to the poorer.
“This is not how I want to grow the economy,” Sir Keir told ITV. “Of course, I believe in redistribution, but I don’t think redistribution is some kind of one-word answer for millions of people across the country.
“We shouldn’t have to tell them, “Sorry, we can’t, we have there is no ambition for you to get such a
job where you are. So I'm afraid this is just a redistribution. I think it's fundamentally disrespectful to people.”
Ms Reeves hinted to The Telegraph at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday that Labor would cut taxes on high earners in a bid to boost economic growth.
Despite recent praise for former Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher, he also told ITV he believed she had torn communities apart.
“What she did was clarity of mission and goals. But in fact, what she did was very destructive,” he said.
The Labor leader previously wrote for The Telegraph that Mrs Thatcher sought to “bring Britain out of its stupor by unleashing our natural entrepreneurial spirit.” spirit.”
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