I want to end with a word about Scotland.
Scottish issues are not front and centre in the Inquiry inspite of the high number of prosecutions that took place here. Stuart Munro, representing a Scottish core participant, Susan Sinclair, asked a number of important questions when he made submissions recently. I want to focus on two I think the Inquiry may struggle to answer.
One is, did the involvement of Crown Office, the independent public prosecutor, afford greater protection to those facing allegations and, if not, why not?
This is really important to the belief that the PO Scandal is solely or mainly about problems with private prosecution.
Another is, did the Crown office comply with its duty of continuing disclosure when the balloon went up on Horizon prosecutions in 2013 and 2015.
If there is one lesson from the Inquiry it is the central importance of independent scrutiny and accountability.
No one should be allowed, particularly when questions of such import and scale have been raised, to mark their own homework, and particularly not the legal profession.
What is happening in Scotland needs vigorous, open, independent scrutiny.
