plus: Noel gets a paperback edition
Morning!
I am trying not to bombard you with too many newsletters as I appreciate it can induce fatigue, but I thought I’d point you to a wee exclusive on my Post Office Scandal website this morning.
The government and the Post Office have been trying run an argument that would see money clawed back from certain Subpostmasters’ compensation pots.
It was, to my mind, a rather shabby try-on and I think it says far more about the Post Office and government’s attitude to Subpostmasters and speedy compensation than the fine words they are spraying about in public.
Don’t forget if you want to get each blog post the moment it drops onto the website, you can sign yourself up for free on the website itself. As with this newsletter, your email addresses will be stored securely and only ever be used to inform you about my activities and the stories I’m working on.
Paperback writer
I am delighted to tell you that the paperback version of former Subpostmaster Noel Thomas’s English-language book The Stamp of Innocence will be released tomorrow. You can get the kindle version from Amazon here – I am hoping the paperback version will appear magically alongside it within the next 24 hours!
As soon as I get a link to it I will share it with you. I hope by that stage I will also have had a chance to write-up Gary Thomas’s evidence to the Inquiry on Thursday last week.
Sunday Times
If you have a subscription you can read yesterday’s Sunday Times article about Jarnail Singh and Rob Wilson’s evidence to the Inquiry. Apologies to those who don’t and to those secret emailers who can’t sign up to read Karl Flinders’ work for Computer Weekly on this scandal because they don’t have a business email address. Sadly we hacks have to get paid. We all have different business models, and that appears to be CW’s. The Daily Record’s model is free at the point of consumption, but plastered with ads. Nonetheless, that paper is taking an interest in the Post Office scandal and has published this short piece about a Scottish Subpostmaster who tried to take his own life.
Mr Bates ramps up
The publicity for ITV’s forthcoming drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office continues to crank up. The i newspaper has made the series one of its festive season picks (see above) and the Radio Times has got a quote from Toby Jones (who plays Alan Bates in the series) saying he only had “scant” knowledge of the scandal before being offered the part. AOL also have a primer/FAQ on the story and the series.
Thanks again for all the comments and info. I remain very grateful. Even if I don’t get a chance to respond I do read every one, and they are extremely welcome.
Yours
Nick