Mr Bates vs the Post Office

denislawsbackheel said:
So?
The question was “isn’t the post office part of Royal Mail”?
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No, I asked that question after being told, wrongly, that the postmasters involved in the scandal wouldn't be taking on the might of the Royal Mail. For the vast majority they would have as they were still part of Royal Mail then. I admit I thought they were all still one and the same now that's why I asked the question. It's a moot point. My post mentioned how hard it is for the little person to take on a huge corporation, be it the Post office or Royal mail.
 
Another thing that was shocking in the podcasts I've listened to so far is the way internal investigations were conducted. All the sub-postmasters investigated were told they were the only ones who had deficits, despite there being dozens of people affected. They accused one Irish sub-postmaster of diverting "missing" money to paramilitary groups and others of having a gambling addiction, despite having no documentary evidence of wrongdoing.

Perhaps the most shocking thing (and I don't know if this came up on the TV version) was the head of the Federation of Sub-postmasters, the union for those people, who should have been protecting his members. He knew there were issues with Horizon yet was more worried that revealing them and supporting his members would impact trust from major customers like DWP. So he forbade any mention of this and actually backed the PO against his own members.

He's another one who should be seeing the inside of a jail cell.
 
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Dubai Blue said:
Thanks. It seems that whoever oversees the PO's prosecutions should be getting the blame then, not Starmer (who agrees with what you've just said):

Sir Keir, speaking on a visit in Loughborough, in the East Midlands, said: “I think that the prosecution should be taken out of the hands of the Post Office and given to the Crown Prosecution Service.

“I used to run the Crown Prosecution Service, we’ve prosecuted for other departments, we can do it here – that should be done straight away."
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The CPS prosecuted 27 of the cases but are refusing to comment on which at the moment.

www.telegraph.co.uk

CPS refuses to reveal Starmer’s role in wrongful Post Office prosecutions

Organisation took at least 27 victims to court but refuses to say if they were during Labour leader’s time in charge
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk
 
bluemanchester said:
He is the one who took the momentous decision to take pushbikes off postmen. Maybe that is really his level in management if it wasn't a "jobs for the boys" scenario. Or maybe he thought it would enhance a tough manager image if he went along with the prosecutions of so many innocent people. Either way he needs to be in this investigation not protected because he is an exec at ITV.
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I didn’t know anything about the bicycle thing but now you mention it I’ve not seen a postie on a bike for years!

What was the possible rationale behind that?!?

Bikes are cheap, reliable, zero emissions and are mostly immune to traffic. I can’t think of a single better vehicle for local posties to use for deliveries.
 
denislawsbackheel said:
Having family in TV I can assure you they do anything for ratings.
Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a scandal that should see prison sentences doled out to executives and govt ministers but too many people are treating this tv show as a documentary.
It isn’t, it’s dramatic interpretation of what happened and as all such drama it will have been titivated for effect.

And it worked!
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The real life people say it was almost word for word so you are wrong again
 
BlueAnorak said:
Just how did Adam Crozier (former head of the FA then subsquently chairmsn of ITV before his current junket at BT), avoid being in the Mr Bates drama. The Post Office was, after all, part of the Royal Mail when the scandal began...
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Big wig at ITV IIRC?
 
Johnny Mars Bar said:
I didn’t know anything about the bicycle thing but now you mention it I’ve not seen a postie on a bike for years!

What was the possible rationale behind that?!?

Bikes are cheap, reliable, zero emissions and are mostly immune to traffic. I can’t think of a single better vehicle for local posties to use for deliveries.⁸
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Not too sure now but I think it was in case of liability claims for injuries etc. My postie from being as fit as a butchers dog is now 3/4 stone overweight! Maybe he can claim if he gets a heart attack if he becomes obese from lack of exercise. (Don't really want to lose him though as he is a blue!)
He drives onto my drive to deliver and its only 20 yards long, at least it means he opens the gates for me, saves me a job;-)
 
bluemanchester said:
Not too sure now but I think it was in case of liability claims for injuries etc. My postie from being as fit as a butchers dog is now 3/4 stone overweight! Maybe he can claim if he gets a heart attack if he becomes obese from lack of exercise. Don't really want to lose him though as he is a blue! He drives onto my drive to deliver and its only 20 yards long, at least it means he opens the gates for me, saves me a job;-)
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The health benefits from cycling outweigh the risks by several orders of magnitude.

Mental decision.
 
Johnny Mars Bar said:
The health benefits from cycling outweigh the risks by several orders of magnitude.

Mental decision.
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Maybe there were to many complaints from people about them been on pavements, jumping red lights etc etc! You know the miserable twats on a certain other thread.
 
Johnny Mars Bar said:
The health benefits from cycling outweigh the risks by several orders of magnitude.

Mental decision.
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In most urban areas 2 postmen go out in a van with upto 20 bags difficult to carry that amount on a bike
 
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