Margot James, who held the role from mid-2016 to early 2018 when Sir Alan Bates and 554 other prosecuted post office operators brought the case to clear their names, told the public inquiry into the IT system she should not have stuck to the line adopted by the executives and UK Government Investments, the body that manages state-owned assets.
The Post Office and UKGI had argued that the litigation and defence strategy was an operational issue that should be left alone by government until the court action had run its course.
"There is a strong argument that we should have delved more closely into operational matters, especially when they involved group litigation," she told the public inquiry yesterday.
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