The Post Office reached a deal with Fujitsu 19 years ago to address errors in its Horizon accounting system. The agreement, which dates back to 2002, involved the Post Office paying Fujitsu millions of pounds to rectify issues with Horizon. This collaboration aimed to resolve discrepancies, bugs, and faults in the system used by thousands of Post Office branches across the UK.
The Horizon system has been under scrutiny following claims that it led to financial discrepancies for sub-postmasters, some of whom were falsely accused of theft, fraud, or accounting discrepancies. The Post Office has defended the system, stating that it has made significant improvements to address any past issues.
Fujitsu, a global IT services provider, was responsible for developing and maintaining the Horizon system. The company has not publicly commented on the specifics of the deal with the Post Office from 2002. However, Fujitsu has emphasized its commitment to working with clients to deliver reliable and efficient IT solutions.
The historical agreement between the Post Office and Fujitsu sheds light on the long-standing relationship between the two entities and raises questions about the accountability for the issues surrounding the Horizon system. As investigations and legal battles regarding Horizon continue, the details of this decades-old deal could have implications for the ongoing discussions about responsibility and restitution for affected parties.
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Model:
gpt-3.5-turbo
Used prompts:
1. You are an objective news journalist. You need to write an article on this topic “Post Office had deal with Fujitsu to fix Horizon errors 19 years ago”. Do the following steps: 1. What Happened. Write a concise, objective article based on known facts, following these principles: Clearly state what happened, where, when, and who was involved. Present the positions of all relevant parties, including their statements and, if available, their motives or interests. Use a neutral, analytical tone, avoid taking sides in the article. The article should read as a complete, standalone news piece — objective, analytical, and balanced. Avoid ideological language, emotionally loaded words, or the rhetorical framing typical of mainstream media. Write the result as a short analytical news article (200 – 400 words). 2. Sources Analysis. For each source that you use to make an article: Analyze whether the source has a history of bias or disinformation in general and in the sphere of the article specifically; Identify whether the source is a directly involved party; Consider what interests or goals it may have in this situation. Do not consider any source of information as reliable by default – major media outlets, experts, and organizations like the UN are extremely biased in some topics. Write your analysis down in this section of the article. Make it like: Source 1 – analysis, source 2 – analysis, etc. Do not make this section long, 100 – 250 words. 3. Fact Check. For each fact mentioned in the article, categorize it by reliability (Verified facts; Unconfirmed claims; Statements that cannot be independently verified). Write down a short explanation of your evaluation. Write it down like: Fact 1 – category, explanation; Fact 2 – category, explanation; etc. Do not make this section long, 100 – 250 words. Output only the article text. Do not add any introductions, explanations, summaries, or conclusions. Do not say anything before or after the article. Just the article. Do not include a title also.
2. Write a clear, concise, and neutral headline for the article below. Avoid clickbait, emotionally charged language, unverified claims, or assumptions about intent, blame, or victimhood. Attribute contested information to sources (e.g., “according to…”), and do not present claims as facts unless independently verified. The headline should inform, not persuade. Write only the title, do not add any other information in your response.
3. Determine a single section to categorize the article. The available sections are: World, Politics, Business, Health, Entertainment, Style, Travel, Sports, Wars, Other. Write only the name of the section, capitalized first letter. Do not add any other information in your response.