"I thought of all the times some government department or corporation has blithely informed me (as the sub-postmasters were told) that 'nobody else has complained'.
I thought of the growing powerlessness of the individual in Britain in the modern age, as government, police and business have hidden themselves behind electronic walls which keep out all the cries of pain and misery, but still let the money through. We have gone so wrong, and we can only get back to civilisation if we restore the presumption of innocence as the keystone of all our law.
For that principle forces us to refuse to run with any crowd, to question any certainty, to doubt all official statements, to side instinctively with the weak against the strong and to recognise that we are most unlikely to know the full story."
Peter Hitchens, The Mail on Sunday.
Thank goodness there is to be a Parliamentary inquiry. I hope they overturn all the convictions now and compensate those poor souls whose lives have been ruined - and quickly, not in several years' time.
ReplyDeleteAs Rachel said, why does it have to take a tv drama to get action? However, I see this quote as having wider resonance.
DeleteAnd plump pink porcine animals may fly ...
ReplyDeleteTrue, but they can be right sometimes.
DeleteTo presume innocence until proven guilty is basic, but here, the most disheartening thing to me is the inverse: people in power who are presumed innocent despite all the evidence against them.
ReplyDeleteAnd still believed by many to be innocent even after being found guilty by a court of law.
DeleteAnd sit still on their post after being found guilty by a court, "not big enough damage done to be forced to leave" - and there are fewer and fewer who leave their post for being ashamed.
DeleteYes, as if the post is a right rather than a privilege to serve.
DeleteUnfortunately (and I say this as a person whose first lectures at University were about the British Constitution and who later went on to read law) the court of social media has managed totally to distort everything. Combine that with the fact that there is no such thing as Ministerial responsibility any more and basically politicians can do what they want and lie with impunity. Basically we are going to Hell in a handcart.
ReplyDeleteI feel pessimistic too, but I expect to be out of the cart before we get there. I read Hitchens from time to time for his contrary views, which occasionally strike a chord for me.
DeleteYes. Thanks for mentioning that. I'd seen his name at the end of the article but hadn't really given it enough thought. I'll investigate.
DeleteIt is good to have such a column published. Awareness is the first defence.
ReplyDeleteHe is strongly on the political right, but also contrarian, and writes some interesting columns.
DeleteI listened to Peter Hitchens during Covid and his video at the start of the lockdown when the decision making veered dramatically one day in March 2020 and he voiced a view shared by many on the puzzle of what was going on at that point. I also like to watch his late brother Christopher who was a very astute observer of politics and people right across the political spectrum. Both Hitchen brothers are often misquoted.
ReplyDeleteBoth always interesting to read. Many dismiss PH out of hand because of who he is, his general politics, and how he looks and sounds, but I think this particular quotation shows how he can often be worth reading. I wish I had selected out the PO references because it is of more general relevance today.
DeleteThis story made me furious. People went to jail for absolutely nothing. Hats off to Mr. Bates!
ReplyDeleteThe story has been in the news for decades and has come to prominence now because of a tv drama. As regards the quotation, I wish I had selected out the PO references because it is of more general relevance today.
DeleteThe Great Post Office Scandal raises many questions about life in Britain today and most of those questions have nothing to do with The Post Office.
ReplyDeleteThat sums it up well. In the quotation I liked the end part about questioning everything (not always easy to ask the right questions) and also the phrase "electronic walls which keep out all the cries of pain and misery, but still let the money through".
DeleteSadly most people do not realise quite what is happening in the world right now. There are people at the top of the mountain who are in charge of the world and they dictate what happens in most countries now. Have you noticed how they all act the same. The problem is that most people are not aware and so these people are having a free run and if they are not stopped the life we have known will not be the life our children and grandchildren will have. I do not have the answer but there are some brave people out there trying to stop it, lets hope they succeed or I don't want to think of the life my Grandchildren will have, certainly it will not be the free life that I have enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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I share those concerns. However, I think there is a risk of feeling paranoid about them. Most of us are of no concern to those with power because we live quietly and don't trouble them. But when we upset their game table, as the sub-postmasters did through no fault or intention, then the power that can be applied against us is enormous. Everything we buy, everywhere we've been, our opinions, the names of our family and friends, are all easily pulled out of the internet. I find that scary.
DeleteAlthough obviously he's been motivated to write by the Post Office situation, his observations apply well to many circumstances in modern life. (Sadly!)
ReplyDeleteYes. You and Yorkshire Pudding (above) have put your fingers on it. I heard today that the PO matter is the reasin we no longer have an office in our village. Our postmaster was never prosecuted, but made up shortfalls from his own funds. In 16 years here, the till never balanced but they were fold it must be their own errors. They walked away and no one else took over. There must be many cases like his that will not be covered by the compensation. As you say, too many other situations are like this.
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