To draw your attention to Mr Bates vs The Post Office

[5foot5]

There is already a thread about this on the Telly Addicts forum here

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4970440-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office-mon-to-thur-itv-9pm-tv-pace-no-spoilers

However this seems like such an important subject that I thought I would draw attention to it on AIBU.

The first episode aired tonight but the whole series is available on itvx.

Most of you will no doubt have heard about the Horizon scandal, but whether you have or you haven't this program is compelling. It will probably make you furious but it deserves as wide an audience as possible.,

So she's not coming back tomorrow right?

🤣

They're literally laughing at her

Several of her answers have been essentially, "Well I wouldn't want to speak ill of anyone... BUT IT WAS PERSON X!"

It's like talking to my mother!

Got a bit distracted, thanks for the updates

Quite the question to finish with

"In the briefing that you received prior to your evidence to Parliament it was suggested you should be circumspect in the answers you gave. Why?"

Just adding a link to the dedicated deconstruction of Vennells thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5080262-to-enjoy-hearing-paula-vennels-being-taken-apart?page=1

I feel that one may be busier for the next few days...

Thanks, I was wondering why it had gone quiet on here.

I watched the Covid Inquiry today and need to catch up with this Inquiry now.

You're a braver woman than I, Duncin'! Two torrents of shit at once!

As much as I’d love to see Vennells thrown into a prison cell and pay back all her ill gotten gains, it seems to me she’s being the sacrificial lamb?

One of the post mistresses was on the BBC news and made a valid point that she was sent to prison before Vennells became head of the PO. As were many others.

People were convicted from 1999. That was long before Vennells came to the PO.

Where are all the other head sheds , why aren’t they all being questioned?

I can’t help but feel that they hope that if they let Vennells take all the blame, they can all get off Scott free.

Adam Crozier, who was CEO of Royal Mail, has been questioned by the inquiry, as have Stuart Sweetman, David Mills, Alan Cook and David Smith, who held the post of MD or CEO of Post Office whilst it was owned by Royal Mail.

Vennells is the focus because she was in charge when it became clear that Horizon was unreliable. She was in charge when Post Office was trying to cover up the scandal. She was in charge when Post Office tried to win the group litigation by deliberately ramping up costs for the subpostmasters to try and run them out of money. She made promises to MPs which she then broke. And she was in charge when Second Sight were sacked for getting too close to the truth. It is also clear from things she wrote at the time that she did not intend the mediation scheme that was set up in 2016 to offer proper restitution to wronged subpostmasters. Her intention was token payments only. However, that isn't to say she should take all the blame. She shouldn't. There are many others in Post Office who should carry some of the blame.