The Post Office has a death wish

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

This week, of all weeks, when there is huge outrage at the way the Post Office has behaved towards subpostmasters over the Horizon scandal, thanks to the excellent ITV dramatisation Mr Bates vs The Post Office - on X/Twitter someone whose bio makes it abundantly clear she's a lesbian tweeted about a patronising and offensive tweet from the Post Office last summer about the word 'queer'. Instead of apologising, or deleting the tweet, or even just ignoring it, some blue-hairded genderist with the password for their social media has doubled down. It's not going down well, I'm pleased to report.

Silly old post office.

@SinnerBoy I'd also strongly recommend a reading of this excellent special report by Private Eye, which has been following the Horizon scandal for many years. It’s long and very detailed but extremely good.

Paula Vennells' role in burying the truth about the failures of the technology is very clearly outlined in this.

Indeed they do...👏
https://bryndisb.substack.com/p/aja-the-empress-iam-an-adult-human

They may as well say "You're the only one that finds it offensive - everyone else is fine with it". Worked so well for them so far.

Yes, I heard on the Radio 4 podcast that they'd said in court that one postmaster - left the safe open, door locks were unsafe, cheques left out on the counter, gave unauthorised people access to cash etc etc.

When it eventually turned out that this was a CHECKLIST for security, and not things that had actually happened, she "couldn't remember" how that false information had been given in court.

Arghhh..make it stop..will they just..stop writing the word queer over and over again...
https://www.postoffice.co.uk/open-letters-to-queer-britain

Well this post prompted me to sign the “strip Paula Vennells of her CBE” petition on 38degrees, so that’s one unintended consequence of ‘Jess’ ill considered tweet.

I think they're asking for some letters...
Simply write ‘Freepost OPEN LETTERS TO QUEER BRITAIN’
on the front of your envelope’. No need to include a stamp, postage is on us.

I wonder if the lady at the post office will let me send them something heavy.

That's Royal Mail. Completely separate company.

They want letters, do they?

''[Music]
take one
[Music]
writing and using words it's the only
thing that i've ever
really been good at it's the only thing
that's ever really brought me any sort
of like peace
the certain emotions you don't know that
you even felt about something until
you've actually now got on paper and you
realize and it actually makes it very
real
just speak from the heart speak from the
mind speak from anywhere elsen [picture of arse]
your voice is the biggest instrument you
will ever be given
so use it to your advantage now is the
time to reflect and look backwards
so that when the moment happens where we
can live freely again we go out
connected to
our past but fighting even harder for
our future
as a gay man i'm often asked to reflect
on the gay experience
how do i navigate the choppy waters of
being a homo in today's political
climate
you may feel that you aren't seen aren't
heard but one day i promise
you will find people who hear you and
hang on your every word
i never thought i would be where i am
married to an amazing woman
loved supported and most recently a
father
know that you're not alone that it's
worth the wait
and that you can be all you dreamed of
this queer and mighty family who have
been marginalia
been kindling bin flame and ash we
the shining products of generations of
struggle
we who cannot be spent nor extinguished
for all the world's trying i couldn't
imagine a life in which i could see
myself as queer
i saw like myself as a mixed-race black
girl
i saw being lgbtq plus as a white people
thing and not something for me
as a person who lives with a disability
being severely sight impaired
i also know of a fear of being
vulnerable
i remember realizing i was gay and using
every fiber of my being to hide it
then i came out and caught up for lost
time
queer britain is a charity working to
establish a national
lgbtq plus museum for everybody
regardless of sexuality or gender
identity
coming out is not for us it's for them i
wish i never came out
i wish i explored experienced and
existed in my queerness alone
without the outside noise from family or
white society
i will end this by saying that i am
british pakistani
south asian muslim transgender queer
and disabled i want to live in a world
where these labels mean
nothing and everything we owe it to
everyone
and to future generations to tell our
own stories
and our own voices because if we don't
somebody else will
write your open letter address it to
free post open letters to queer britain
be part of history
you'

Why cause extra work for Royal Mail, which has nothing to do with the Post Office?

Yeah my bad, pp corrected me already. It's all mail to me 🤷🏻‍♀️ but one company is helpfully educating us.

The post office should have social media that says "Need to post a letter? try us. We're not the worst option"

Debateable given recent coverage about letters backing up in sorting offices or being disposed of rather than delivered.

Royal Mail Group PR must be reading this thread with their heads in their hands. Over a decade since they split from the Post Office and still being tarred with the same brush. Poor buggers.

I have always thought the PO was the parent company so they are linked very strongly.... now I'm not so sure. So what do the PO actually do if they aren't letters/parcels, do they just sell stamps, be a collection point for RM and ?

EDIT - I know they used to do car tax, passports and driving licences but thats mostly online now. It's not their speciality.

😂

Maybe she identifies as a cat?

No sympathy. The split was and is ridiculous. It's nonsense to have the national postal service separate from the offices of the national post.

Same here. It has the same impact on me as hearing the casually racist terms for certain ethnic groups which were in common usage at the time that the Q word was being used.

Look it's a new year. Can 2024 be the start of all these companies fucking off with their virtue signalling and performative displays of their "engagement" with social issues that have fuck all to do their organisations? It's getting absolutely crazy now.

@PurpleSparkledPixie no they are completely separate and have been for years (since before the Horizon scandal). Royal Mail Group is owned by a listed company (International Deliveries Service). Post Office is a private company that is wholly owned by the government. To be honest you would think it would be the other way round and that Royal Mail, being critical infrastructure would be in public ownership.

Royal Mail collects, sorts and delivers post. That's basically it.

Post Office is a corner shop franchising company, they are under contract to Royal Mail for selling stamps and accepting registered post and the like, but they are also under contract to Evri and Amazon, and to the government itself for providing things like universal banking service. They also sell their own services like currency exchange and insurance.

In fact Royal Mail is in direct competition with the Post Office with services like Bring My Label (which is ace if you are at home when the postie comes - no more queueing at the PO to drop off parcels).

I don't really know what they do now, except for selling stamps and accepting parcels and registered post, recorded delivery, signed for etc for onward transmission to Royal Mail. There must be a lot of parcels to process given that so many people buy things online and return them, and others are busy selling through Ebay, Etsy and so on.

Years ago you'd go there to get a passport application form and probably other government forms too - application forms for provisional driving licence, driving test, car tax? Many people were there every single week to collect Family Allowance (predecessor of Child Benefit), pensions and various other social security payments. I dimly remember paying into/take money out of my Post Office Savings account in the days of passbooks. I think we used to see some people getting their money paid over the counter and immediately handing some of it back to buy stamps towards gas, electricity and so on. Does that still happen?

they are completely separate and have been for years (since before the Horizon scandal).

They've only been separate since 2011. The Horizon scandal started in 2000 when the new computer system was installed.

You can pay in cheques and withdraw cash from your regular bank account at POs now so I guess they have a basic bank function. Actually quite useful with banks closing left right and centre...

(Sorry I see puncheur said the same thing)