But at least it’s trying to find out
Apologies for not being in contact for a while. Here’s a little round-up of all the latest.
Firstly – the Williams inquiry into the Horizon Scandal is slowly cranking up. There is going to be an open hearing on 8 November, which I hope to attend. The hearing is to help Sir Wyn Williams determine exactly what the inquiry should look into, and there are four issues on the table:
1) The behaviour of the Post Office towards Second Sight during Second Sight’s investigation of Horizon (which was carried out between 2012 and 2015).
2) The quality and nature of the legal advice provided to the Post Office whilst it was prosecuting Subpostmasters using Horizon evidence between 2000 and 2015.
3) The way the Post Office behaved during the Group Litigation (between 2016 and 2019).
4) Divergent approaches to Post Office investigations and prosecutions within the four legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom.
Sir Wyn wants to know if any of the above are within the inquiry’s remit, if core participants want those issues investigated and if so, how and why. My view is that if he is not at least investigating issues 1 – 3 in detail then the inquiry is not worth its salt.
The elephant in the room remains proper financial redress for those who have lost out. Surely those who have suffered arbitrarily should be given what they would have earned themselves had a fist of the state not selected them for a random crushing. Otherwise what do we do? Accept it happened and shrug our shoulders? The reluctance of the government to allow the inquiry to embrace this issue is worrying.
Alan Bates is quoted in Computer Weekly saying the key priority is “to recover the financial damage the Post Office inflicted” on Subpostmasters. That’s not to say he’s not interested in who knew what and when but:
“that will not stop houses being repossessed or putting food on tables, and yes, things are still that bad for many of the victims group.”
The absence of a discussion about whether this issue is even on the table on 8 November is of some concern. Bates has yet to say if he will participate in the inquiry.
More interviews
The ONRecord team have certainly been busy. They are an independent couple who have been motivated by the Horizon scandal to record a series of interviews with people either involved or exercised by it. I have watched some of their interviews, most recently with Paul Pascoe.
Paul is a lawyer turned businessman who got turned over by fraudulent bankers. He has become something of an expert on the institutional inability to acknowledge, let alone root out and punish appalling behaviour within powerful institutions.
The next piece going up is an interview with Wendy Buffrey, the former Up Hatherley Postmaster in Gloucestershire. It has not been published yet, but it will be on the ONRecord Post Office youtube playlist, which you can find here.
Book and awards news
Earlier this week I finally sent my book about this scandal to the printers. On the same day it was announced the Great Post Office Trial radio series had won two Gold awards in New York. Whilst I was obviously pleased to get the book over the line and thrilled by the awards, it raised some uncomfortable issues, which I have tried to address here.
My next task is to set up a fund for Subpostmasters with my publisher. The broad, suggested remit is that it should exist to provide money, on application, for expert and legal advice, travel (to meetings, court or evidence sessions of the statutory inquiry), medical help, counselling, media and creative projects and basic hardships. To those of you who kindly offered advice and help when I first mentioned the fund a few weeks ago, I will be in touch shortly!
I’ll keep trying to do my bit, as I’m sure many people reading this will keep doing theirs. I salute the amazing campaigners who keep putting themselves out there – doing publicity, speaking to journalists and helping quietly behind the scenes. Also the lawyers, politicians and professionals who have put a lot on the line for very little personal recognition to make sure this scandal gets something like the attention it deserves. People keep telling me I’m going to have to write a second volume to the book as this story has a long way to run. Maybe. But I first want to thank the hundreds of people who contributed to making volume one what it is.
In practical terms if you have ordered a pre-sale copy either direct from Bath Publishing, as a crowdfunding reward via me, or from one of the big chains, we are hoping to see the first hardbacks hitting the distributors in mid-November, and then depending on other logistical things I know nothing about, they should be shipped to you shortly afterwards. When or if the book will eventually make it into the shops I have no idea. Shifting physical stuff around the country is apparently a bit of a challenge nowadays. E-books are easier – more news on that soon!
Have a great weekend.
Nick