I am grateful for Rebecca Nicholson’s excellent critique of the TV miniseries Mr Bates vs the Post Office (Mr Bates vs the Post Office review – Toby Jones is perfect in a devastating tale of a national scandal, 1 January), which I watched in one sitting. I thought I knew the story, but realised I didn’t know the half of it.
With increasing incredulity and rage, I viewed as it revealed what lengths some senior executives and boards will go to protect their companies even when they know the lives of so many good and honest people are being ruined or terminated. How can it have taken the law and government 20 years to right this wrong?
And why are taxpayers picking up the cost while the individuals who behaved so very reprehensibly keep their bonuses and contracts? Not one has faced consequences. I feel this particularly strongly as at the time our daughter and son-in-law were running a sub-post office not far from one featured in the drama. It could have been them and it makes me shudder. Something is very wrong in our society.
Dr John Beer
Farnham, Surrey
• I’ve followed the Post Office/Horizon IT scandal for a few years and I was surprised Sir Ed Davey admits he knew of the scandal when he was postal affairs minister from 2010-2012 (Ed Davey accuses Post Office bosses of misleading him over Horizon IT scandal, 3 January). Rather than admit fault for doing nothing, Davey appears to be lamely blaming the Post Office for blocking direct access to the sub-postmasters. Nothing would have stopped Davey asking for those details from civil service researchers and picking up the phone himself to contact Alan Bates. He didn’t and only now is criticising the Post Office after lives were lost and ruined.
Equally, Davey hasn’t openly and robustly criticised the Post Office for the slowness with which compensation is being paid, or for the gong awarded to Post Office CEO Paula Vennells. Instead, he has been happy to accept a gong himself, despite knowing of this sorry situation, and doing very little to help. It’s been said many times, the awarding of honours needs a complete overhaul.
Richard Taylor
London
• I would like to congratulate you on your reporting of the sub‑postmasters scandal. The ITV drama brings the whole terrible saga to life in an almost unbearable way. The question for us now as a society is what is to be done? I cannot bear to think that, after all this publicity, we as a people will allow things to continue in their present fashion. I invite the Guardian to lead a campaign to garner support for a petition to parliament to bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion on behalf of all those who have suffered.
Neil Morgan
Bedford
• Lovely that Royal Mail is featuring the Spice Girls on its new stamps (Report, 5 January). If it needs ideas for more inspirational personalities to appear on every letter in the land could I suggest Alan Bates for his relentless pursuit of those responsible for one of the UK’s biggest miscarriages of justice?
Elizabeth Griffiths
Dorking, Surrey
• Our politicians have become so duplicitous that the only people making effective and honest statements about the injustices surrounding us (the most obvious being the Post Office scandal) are actors.
Paul Allen
Kenilworth, Warwickshire
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
