New ITV four-part drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, has exposed one of the most nefarious miscarriages of justice in British history, and even Rishi Sunak concurs. I knew little of the scandal that occurred two decades ago. It affected more than 750 postmasters accused of theft when their Post Office issued Horizon accounting software failed. They were vilified, humiliated, and condemned with many sent to prison, their lives shattered, for doing absolutely nothing wrong.
It’s hard to imagine a more Kafka like scenario. You work hard as a sub postmaster in a small village and are suddenly hauled before the courts wrongly accused of cooking the books and shunned by the local community. So many postmasters lost their livelihoods and savings, some tragically their lives too, over the fiasco. For twenty years, one hero, Alan Bates, a former postmaster refused to capitulate. He rallied the troops, fought the Post Office, headed by the imperious Paula Vennells (she who has now been forced by public demand, to hand back her CBE), and never gave up. But it has - to the government’s and Post Office’s everlasting shame – taken a fictional drama on the telly to expose the whole truth and nothing but the truth about this sordid and unjust affair.
Yes, Paula Vennells should never have been granted a gong and most definitely should be stripped of it but what about all the other despicable protagonists in this horror show? Sunak has vowed in parliament to exonerate and compensate all these persecuted men and women, decades after the injustice occurred but what about the puppeteers? Heads must surely roll. The British public now wants justice (and a gong) for brave Mr Bates, and his valiant flock, and that means seeing the perpetrators of this mess sent to prison. The British government has a duty to hang out to dry ALL of those who committed this injustice – at all levels. Nothing else will do.
Branson’s gift to Bates
As an aside, three cheers for Sir Richard Branson who has generously offered Alan Bates and his wife a fantastic holiday at his Necker Island luxury resort including first class Virgin flights. Just seeing the look of joy on the faces of the couple when they were told live on TV, was enough to have most of us boohooing into our masks.
Another cover up
The Spanish government has announced the mandatory use of masks at health centres and in hospitals across Spain, despite several of its 17 autonomous regions blowing a big raspberry at the idea. In fact, the Balearic regional government has allegedly slammed the new ruling, citing that cases of Covid are similar to last year here.
In a recent review, the UK Health Security Agency admitted that there was no scientific research that offered usable data about the effectiveness of medical-grade face masks to protect vulnerable people from Covid. And let’s not even discuss the flimsy paper ones that end up in the ocean killing sea life.
So, who do we believe? I read loads of studies about this burning question during Covid, while nursing several cats and litters that had the audacity to pitch up in my garden unmasked. One Danish report dismissed their efficacy while an American one lauded them and so it went on. Tit for tat. As I’m neither a scientist nor a specialist in respiratory diseases, I don’t feel I’m able to offer anything too useful in the debate but personally, I see little value in wearing one.
Sure, I can see how if someone is coughing violently in front of you, a mask might offer some kind of protection from projectile spittle but in the main, I think the paper and cloth things we all dutifully don around hospitals are about as useful as strapping a Christmas party hat on our noses. In fact, I was in a hospital today and noticed that although most nurses and punters obediently wore masks, few of the doctors and specialists did. Maybe they know something we don’t? I have this image of them holding their stomachs with laughter as they peer round their consultancy doors watching all the poor sheep in the waiting rooms faithfully following orders. ‘Suckers!’ they probably whisper between heaving guffaws.
What do I know? Besides, I’m all for a quiet life. If people want to wear a mask, and truly believe it will stop them catching flu, Covid or a cold, good for them. I too am willing to wear a mask to keep the peace in hospitals and medical establishments if so required. All the same, I find it utterly depressing and outrageous to know that fraudulent people, many with connections at the highest level politically, have personally made millions from PPE. And then what of the animals and sea creatures that have been horribly affected by the discarded masks that pile up in oceans, forests and pastureland and litter the streets?
There is also the question about immunity. Many people’s natural immunity has been shot through by the extreme obsession during the last few years with mask wearing and for washing hands with special alcohol-based cleansers. Now and then we do actually need to catch germs and to learn how to fend them off. Still, each to their own. One man’s mask is another man’s ligature.