Mr Bates Vs The Post Office

euan

JEM said:

I spent a bit of time volunteering as a vaccination centre marshal during the pandemic and got chatting to a fellow volunteer who had recently retired from Fujitsu.

I half jokingly asked him about the Post office using Horizon and it turned out he'd been a project manager on it and was involved with the early investigation into the issues.

According to him "software doesn't make mistakes" and "the postmasters were all thieves". He'd seemed like a nice chap up until then. Whether he really believed that or was just still regurgitating the company line I never new. I never talked to him about IT again though.

The thing about him making that statement, is that the story original broke to the computing press with a Fujitsu insider giving a lot of detail. Including how those on the project knew it shouldn't have been released and that the testers were saying it was full of bugs.

WafflesOnHorseback

I see over 900k have signed the petition to get Vennells stripped of her CBE!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/strip-paula-vennells-of-her-cbe?share=3e2b091f-30a5-4e0e-83bd-af59e6a1498c&source=&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=

A shocking and quite depressing story really. 

CavemanGrogg

DefaultM said:

So is a correct summary that all over the country there were hundreds of Post Offices where the figures didn't line up. They're all using the same computer system, employees are having issues with it, but instead of looking in to that they concluded it was some kind of conspiracy where all those unrelated employees were stealing? 

Erm... Why? How does that make any sense? Did they find evidence they were in contact or anything? 

You haven't worked on on government contracts or had to deal with them on a professional capacity have you?  To say the ''left hand is not talking to the right hand'' is a far off understatement, it would be more accurate to say ''that the left hand has no idea that the right hand even exists''

Kittyfrisk

More suggested reading from the only organisation that has been following the scandal for years, before the BBC Radio 4 series.
Not that ITV haven't done a great service in raising the issue to a wider audience & putting pressure on the Government, but credit where its due, eh? 
https://www.private-eye.co.uk/special-reports/justice-lost-in-the-post
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/may/10/exposing-the-great-post-office-scandal-part-1

Fingers657

This story has made me so angry for years.
It’s been a never ending nightmare for all these poor post office owners and this government as usual is not paying out what’s due and clearing these poor people’s names.
It’s disgusting that it’s taken a TV film to bring it to people’s attention and now forcing this shite government to do what they were told.
As for what  the chancellor said we’ve already paid out .what a wanker.
The police need to start arresting and charging the people that did this and covered it up.

stufisher

The drama has done its thing for sure ... incredible story, sensitively and accurately portrayed on screen ... it's not surprising how we're all bent out of shape by it. Very compelling.

On the back of it I became aware of the Panorama documentary about it so I have watched that too. There are a few things in the docu that lend further weight to the cause. If you have watched the drama then you should watch this too:

Panorama, The Post Office Scandal: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0016t20 via @bbciplayer ;

theatreanchor

Really good TV - and a terrible story of injustice. Seeing Sunak scramble demonstrates the power of decent drama. More cynically, it gives the Tories a fighting chance at the election given their last-minute reactive actions.

guitars4you

theatreanchor said:

Really good TV - and a terrible story of injustice. Seeing Sunak scramble demonstrates the power of decent drama. More cynically, it gives the Tories a fighting chance at the election given their last-minute reactive actions.

That is obviously what they are hoping for 

Kittyfrisk

^ Too little, too late...

VimFuego

theatreanchor said:

Really good TV - and a terrible story of injustice. Seeing Sunak scramble demonstrates the power of decent drama. More cynically, it gives the Tories a fighting chance at the election given their last-minute reactive actions.

I'm hoping it looks like a party that is only capable of jumping on a bandwagon and is incapable of proactive action or leadership. 

breakstuff

VimFuego said:

theatreanchor said:

Really good TV - and a terrible story of injustice. Seeing Sunak scramble demonstrates the power of decent drama. More cynically, it gives the Tories a fighting chance at the election given their last-minute reactive actions.

I'm hoping it looks like a party that is only capable of jumping on a bandwagon and is incapable of proactive action or leadership. 

I'm just waiting for him to blame Jeremy Corbyn.

guitars4you

breakstuff said:

VimFuego said:

theatreanchor said:

Really good TV - and a terrible story of injustice. Seeing Sunak scramble demonstrates the power of decent drama. More cynically, it gives the Tories a fighting chance at the election given their last-minute reactive actions.

I'm hoping it looks like a party that is only capable of jumping on a bandwagon and is incapable of proactive action or leadership. 

I'm just waiting for him to blame Jeremy Corbyn.

Not Cameron or Jo Swinson 

Offset

Well Vennells has just said she was handing back her CBE with immediate effect.  Not a minute too soon frankly.

theatreanchor

Offset said:

Well Vennells has just said she was handing back her CBE with immediate effect.  Not a minute too soon frankly.

Good. Amazed, and very impressed, by the effect this programme has had. 

Offset

theatreanchor said:

Offset said:

Well Vennells has just said she was handing back her CBE with immediate effect.  Not a minute too soon frankly.

Good. Amazed, and very impressed, by the effect this programme has had. 

Agree - but unimpressed it took a bloody TV programme to shame the government and Vennells into action.  This has dragged on for years.  Absolutely disgraceful.

guitars4you

Offset said:

theatreanchor said:

Offset said:

Well Vennells has just said she was handing back her CBE with immediate effect.  Not a minute too soon frankly.

Good. Amazed, and very impressed, by the effect this programme has had. 

Agree - but unimpressed it took a bloody TV programme to shame the government and Vennells into action.  This has dragged on for years.  Absolutely disgraceful.

Agree - Just found out she was short listed to be the Bishop of London - A senior role in the C of E - She obviously has strong morals 

CaseOfAce

Kittyfrisk said:

More suggested reading from the only organisation that has been following the scandal for years, before the BBC Radio 4 series.
Not that ITV haven't done a great service in raising the issue to a wider audience & putting pressure on the Government, but credit where its due, eh? 
https://www.private-eye.co.uk/special-reports/justice-lost-in-the-post
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/may/10/exposing-the-great-post-office-scandal-part-1

Ian Hislop and co. must be a irritated given that Private Eye has been banging the drum on this saga for years... and the only thing that's finally resulted in the necessary action has been an ITV drama with that bloke from The Detectorists in it.

VimFuego

theatreanchor said:

Offset said:

Well Vennells has just said she was handing back her CBE with immediate effect.  Not a minute too soon frankly.

Good. Amazed, and very impressed, by the effect this programme has had. 

it does show the power of art, and why it is important in any civil society. 

DefaultM

All this probably partly explains why the woman that runs my local post office is such a miserable awful twat.

Kittyfrisk

VimFuego said:

theatreanchor said:

Offset said:

Well Vennells has just said she was handing back her CBE with immediate effect.  Not a minute too soon frankly.

Good. Amazed, and very impressed, by the effect this programme has had. 

it does show the power of art, and why it is important in any civil society. 

No worries, the Government have that covered too...
https://educationbusinessuk.net/features/decline-drama-and-arts-schools
https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2012/oct/30/defence-school-drama-arts-curriculum-ebacc
https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/drama-teaching-in-schools-in-crisis-experts-warn