Late to the party but feeling angry at the post office scandal

Yes, I agree Chardy. The postmasters should have the money wrongfully taken from them by the PO returned and be compensated for all losses consequent including for wrongful convictions and imprisonment. I think an independent body chaired by a judge should be set up to assess and make payments, otherwise the PO will drag this out to the benefit of fat cat lawyers.

Thank you for starting the thread nanna8.
Personally I'm very concerned about the use of the word 'compensation'. If these postmasters handed over £000s, that money should have been returned years ago. Returning it is not compensation, it's returning what was wrongfully taken.
Compensation is payment for loss of earnings (many couldn't get jobs afterwards), loss of home or having to move home, loss of reputation and for stress caused (not just for the individual, but for their children who were bullied in school over it). It's nothing to do with returning money wrongfully taken.

Dh recently asked our local postmaster whether he’d been affected. Yes, but many years ago now. He was initially told that he owed a very large sum, which he told them was impossible.
They later reduced it a bit, to which he also said that was impossible.
They then reduced it to a much smaller sum, but still a few £k - threatening to close the shop for a month if he didn’t pay.

He did ask how on earth they could come up with such wildly different amounts, but paid up.

He hasn’t claimed. Dh has offered to help him with the paperwork - the wretched forms run to 14 pages! Fully intended, I’m sure, to put many people off bothering.
They really are a shower of shits, no apologies for language!

nanna8
You can get these episodes on Radio 4. ( on line of course)
I leant more from these than a lot of reporting in the newspapers or tv.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m000jf7j

If I lived in the UK this would make me vote against the Conservatives and their lack of support for those injured people.Disgraceful.

I find that unlikely too, Grantanow.

The whole scandal is an utter disgrace and if the Government thinks that saving money by not paying out proper compensation will make them more electable, then they are clearly completely clueless.

A recent PO letter to the government suggests some 300 convictions were sound. I find it extremely unlikely such a large number of subpostmasters were actually guilty. The letter is obviously an attempt to footdrag and avoid paying compensation in my opinion. The government should ignore it and exonerate the subpostmasters. The PO management needs a radical overhaul.

Should have said- the link is about the reporting in the media.

I read the Private Eye article in 2011 which was when lots more people were alert to the situation.

It is an old story here (sadly) and still not resolved. It seems that a drama based on fact has had so much more impact than the facts themselves.
Ist raised in a computer magazine.
I haven't seen the new drama about it but many over here have been aware of the situation since early days.

There's some more detailed info here from 2020 if interested:
www.postofficetrial.com/2020/06/credit-where-due.html?m=1

People sent to prison, ostracised from their communities.
We have been aware of this for quite some time but it took this TV drama series to bring it fully to the attention of the public.

Still they drag their heels about compensation.
Post Office bosses, their thuggish investigators, Fujitsu and successive governments should all be held to account.

Yes, we were all traumatised by this when it was shown. It has had a huge impact here and really what you saw in the series was only the tip of the iceberg. So much more has been revealed as the investigations continue. Thousands of people have come forward, having lost their homes, their life savings and even their spouses' lives through suicide. It just beggars belief this could happen on such a massive scale. There was much weeping here because the lives of so many good honest people were destroyed.