The Post Office inquiry is finally exposing the part politicians played in the Horizon scandal | Sam Fowles

Alan Cook (managing director, 2006-2010) wasn’t even aware that the Post Office oversaw prosecutions of subpostmasters, he told the inquiry last week.

Almost every senior witness, however, has told the inquiry (in one way or another) that they didn’t pay proper attention to the Horizon scandal because they were focused on making a profit.

This meant, as Hodgkinson appeared to agree with the inquiry counsel Julian Blake, the “overall theme” of his chairmanship was “reducing costs, increasing profitability”.

According to Lord Arbuthnot: “The government is refusing to take the responsibilities that go with ownership … If you have an organisation that is as important to the community as the Post Office is, then the people have got to be able to have proper control over it.” The attorney general has the power to regulate private prosecutions.

Ministers, whether invested in the decision to run the Post Office as a business, keen to see through the full privatisation of Royal Mail, or just believing that a state-owned company would always be transparent with government, didn’t ask too many questions.

The inquiry’s lawyers will (and must) ask each of these individuals tough questions about their own knowledge and decisions, and compare it with the statements they initially made to the public, courts or parliament.