British Post Office scandal

[basilio]

I just finished watching "Mr Bates vs The Post Office ". It is a dramatisation of the 25 year saga of corruption, incompetence and corporate criminality that caused the wrongful conviction of hundreds of sub posties and the wanton destruction of thousands of lives and livelihoods in the UK. It happened as consequence of fundamentally broken computer accounting program and a corporate organisation that resolutely refused to acknowledge this reality. Instead it destroyed the lives of the people who have fallen victim to mistakes and false accounting made through the Horizon software package.

I would guess some ASF posters are aware of this story. It has been in the news for over 20 years now. However it was only when ITV produced this program did the public become truly aware of the horror perpetuated on the sub post offices.

I saw it on Brit box. There are a number of You Tube clips/stories. It is also on 7Plus I believe.

Has anyone had any personal dealings with people affected by this scandal ?

Watch Mr Bates vs The Post Office Online: Free Streaming & Catch Up TV in Australia

Watch, Stream & Catch Up with your favourite Mr Bates vs The Post Office episodes on 7plus. Post Office wrongly accuses managers, ruining lives in a decade-long saga. The real culprit? A denied computer system error. A David vs Goliath tale unfolds as ordinary people fight for justice against a...

7plus.com.au

Mr Bates vs The Post Office - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SirRumpole]

I just finished watching "Mr Bates vs The Post Office ". It is a dramatisation of the 25 year saga of corruption, incompetence and corporate criminality that caused the wrongful conviction of hundreds of sub posties and the wanton destruction of thousands of lives and livelihoods in the UK. It happened as consequence of fundamentally broken computer accounting program and a corporate organisation that resolutely refused to acknowledge this reality. Instead it destroyed the lives of the people who have fallen victim to mistakes and false accounting made through the Horizon software package.

I would guess some ASF posters are aware of this story. It has been in the news for over 20 years now. However it was only when ITV produced this program did the public become truly aware of the horror perpetuated on the sub post offices.

I saw it on Brit box. There are a number of You Tube clips/stories. It is also on 7Plus I believe.

Has anyone had any personal dealings with people affected by this scandal ?

Watch Mr Bates vs The Post Office Online: Free Streaming & Catch Up TV in Australia

Watch, Stream & Catch Up with your favourite Mr Bates vs The Post Office episodes on 7plus. Post Office wrongly accuses managers, ruining lives in a decade-long saga. The real culprit? A denied computer system error. A David vs Goliath tale unfolds as ordinary people fight for justice against a...

7plus.com.au

Mr Bates vs The Post Office - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I did a post on this some time back.

Its a horrible story, similar in some respects to our Robodebt.

I hope heads roll over it.

 

[farmerge]

I did a post on this some time back.

Its a horrible story, similar in some respects to our Robodebt.

I hope heads roll over it.

@SirRumpole I also watched this TV mini series and could not believe the corrupt bods sitting in their ivory towers as they destroyed the lives of so many, and causing the deaths of some also.
Thankfully Mr Bates had the courage and conviction to maintain his assault on the English Post Office.
I feel it is a show that should get a second viewing just to keep people on the ball when corrupt Government employees are involved.
Robodebt, so similar.

 

[basilio]

Came across this story on Alan Bates and his partner. Absolutely reinforced the horror of the 20 years years of criminal behavior by the British Post Office, Fujistu who ran the plagued Horizon software program and the scores of managers who resolutely drove thousands of post office subbies into the ground to protect their name and their profits.

It is a great story and makes one appreciate what can be achieved by a person with courage and resolution.

‘I’m a pain in the backside ... an awkward sod’: Alan Bates on love, justice and the Post Office scandal​

He became a household name after ITV turned Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice into a drama. He reflects on his fight for compensation, turning down an OBE – and getting married on Richard Branson’s island

Simon Hattenstone
Mon 23 Dec 2024 16.00 AEDT

Sir Alan Bates is at home in Llandudno with his wife Suzanne. Or, as he puts it, Lady Suzanne. You might know him better as Mr Bates from the Post Office scandal. He is the man who refused to give up when the Post Office told thousands of subpostmasters that they were inept or corrupt rather than acknowledging they were victims of flawed Horizon computer technology and managerial mendacity. It resulted in the biggest miscarriage of justice Britain has known – more than 900 people convicted of theft or false accounting, 236 jailed, numerous family breakdowns and at least four suicides.

For 20 years, few of us knew about the scandal. But gradually his campaign built up steam, thanks largely to his tireless work. In January, ITV turned it into a gripping docudrama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office. He was played by Toby Jones, and overnight the 69-year-old campaigner was a household name and we all knew about the scandal.

Congratulations on a great year, I say via video call. “Well, I don’t know whether I would say it’s a great year because we haven’t actually achieved our key aim, which is obtaining the money for the people. There’s been a lot of noise this year, but none of it has achieved what we set out to achieve, which is final resolution for the victims.” It’s classic Bates – measured, realistic and goal-oriented.

He’s telling me about the outstanding claims of most of the group he represents, the 555 post office operators who brought the original action to court. Mid-sentence, he bursts out laughing. “Sorry, I’m just watching our cat Missy knocking everything off the mantelpiece. She’s determined to get to the far end.” He is every bit as pedantic and resilient as the fictionalised version played by Jones. But he’s also different in significant ways – less nerdy and funnier. “Ah yes,” he says, when I point this out. “I couldn’t have done this unless I had a sense of humour. I couldn’t have kept going all these years. There’s been an awful lot of sadness and suffering in all this, but you’ve got to find funny moments. Most of them are when the Post Office carries on lying about this stuff when the rest of us all know differently.”

‘I’m a pain in the backside ... an awkward sod’: Alan Bates on love, justice and the Post Office scandal

He became a household name after ITV turned Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice into a drama. He reflects on his fight for compensation, turning down an OBE – and getting married on Richard Branson’s island

www.theguardian.com

 

[farmerge]

Came across this story on Alan Bates and his partner. Absolutely reinforced the horror of the 20 years years of criminal behavior by the British Post Office, Fujistu who ran the plagued Horizon software program and the scores of managers who resolutely drove thousands of post office subbies into the ground to protect their name and their profits.

It is a great story and makes one appreciate what can be achieved by a person with courage and resolution.

‘I’m a pain in the backside ... an awkward sod’: Alan Bates on love, justice and the Post Office scandal​

He became a household name after ITV turned Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice into a drama. He reflects on his fight for compensation, turning down an OBE – and getting married on Richard Branson’s island

View attachment 190029
Simon Hattenstone
Mon 23 Dec 2024 16.00 AEDT

View attachment 190028



Sir Alan Bates is at home in Llandudno with his wife Suzanne. Or, as he puts it, Lady Suzanne. You might know him better as Mr Bates from the Post Office scandal. He is the man who refused to give up when the Post Office told thousands of subpostmasters that they were inept or corrupt rather than acknowledging they were victims of flawed Horizon computer technology and managerial mendacity. It resulted in the biggest miscarriage of justice Britain has known – more than 900 people convicted of theft or false accounting, 236 jailed, numerous family breakdowns and at least four suicides.

For 20 years, few of us knew about the scandal. But gradually his campaign built up steam, thanks largely to his tireless work. In January, ITV turned it into a gripping docudrama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office. He was played by Toby Jones, and overnight the 69-year-old campaigner was a household name and we all knew about the scandal.

Congratulations on a great year, I say via video call. “Well, I don’t know whether I would say it’s a great year because we haven’t actually achieved our key aim, which is obtaining the money for the people. There’s been a lot of noise this year, but none of it has achieved what we set out to achieve, which is final resolution for the victims.” It’s classic Bates – measured, realistic and goal-oriented.

He’s telling me about the outstanding claims of most of the group he represents, the 555 post office operators who brought the original action to court. Mid-sentence, he bursts out laughing. “Sorry, I’m just watching our cat Missy knocking everything off the mantelpiece. She’s determined to get to the far end.” He is every bit as pedantic and resilient as the fictionalised version played by Jones. But he’s also different in significant ways – less nerdy and funnier. “Ah yes,” he says, when I point this out. “I couldn’t have done this unless I had a sense of humour. I couldn’t have kept going all these years. There’s been an awful lot of sadness and suffering in all this, but you’ve got to find funny moments. Most of them are when the Post Office carries on lying about this stuff when the rest of us all know differently.”

‘I’m a pain in the backside ... an awkward sod’: Alan Bates on love, justice and the Post Office scandal

He became a household name after ITV turned Britain’s biggest miscarriage of justice into a drama. He reflects on his fight for compensation, turning down an OBE – and getting married on Richard Branson’s island

www.theguardian.com

A truly gripping tele movie worth watching over and over again. The lying and cheating are just unbelievable.

 

[basilio]

A truly gripping tele movie worth watching over and over again. The lying and cheating are just unbelievable.

A truly gripping true story ? It certainly was. I have to say I am still waiting for justice to come for the perps and the subbies who were so xcrewed