Maybe it should be written into thier contract when they take up office.
Breaking News: Post Office Scandal
- Thread starter Vulcan
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Good point but they've all had plenty of documentaries and dramas.
Unfortunately, some stuff only appeals to a limited audience.
The PO scandal has a far wider appeal.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Latest Private Eye is full of self congratulation over the PO scandal and quite right too. They have been reporting on it from the very start and resisting legal threats from PO, Vennels et etc.
https://www.private-eye.co.uk/The podcasts are good Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast
Makes you realise how essential the alternative media is, as compared to cautious mainstream, establishment supporting , run by mega rich non doms, etc etc.
Even the alternative right such as Guido Fawkes gives a useful alternative view, take it or leave it.
To dismiss it all out of hand is very blinkered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_media_in_the_United_Kingdom
https://www.private-eye.co.uk/The podcasts are good Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast
Makes you realise how essential the alternative media is, as compared to cautious mainstream, establishment supporting , run by mega rich non doms, etc etc.
Even the alternative right such as Guido Fawkes gives a useful alternative view, take it or leave it.
To dismiss it all out of hand is very blinkered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_media_in_the_United_Kingdom
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niall Y
Established Member
I'm reminded of when they were successfully sued, by Robert Maxwell. Despite this judgment it didn't stop them being ultimately proven correct in their reporting of his affairs.
There's been plenty of coverage over the years. Computer Weekly were onto early doors. BBC journalist too, then Panorama.
Just didn't get the traction, exposure and reaction it needed in the early years of it coming to light.
The current inquiry is streamed live on YouTube and has all the previous days too.
Absolutely fascinating to me as an ex-IT manager. Lots of process and controls in place for maintaining fault logs, and change control.
Lots of evidence to confirm people knew about defects but always seems to think it was someone else's responsibility to blow the whistle.
What's not clear yet is the flow of information between Fujitsu and PO.
Also incompetent investigators ignoring alarms bells about the integrity of the system and pressing ahead with prosecutions.
Just didn't get the traction, exposure and reaction it needed in the early years of it coming to light.
The current inquiry is streamed live on YouTube and has all the previous days too.
Absolutely fascinating to me as an ex-IT manager. Lots of process and controls in place for maintaining fault logs, and change control.
Lots of evidence to confirm people knew about defects but always seems to think it was someone else's responsibility to blow the whistle.
What's not clear yet is the flow of information between Fujitsu and PO.
Also incompetent investigators ignoring alarms bells about the integrity of the system and pressing ahead with prosecutions.
highwood122
Established Member
is there anything else of any importance we cannot do in this country, like shipbuilding,fighter planes,helicopters trains,powerstations,car manufacture,water companies e.t.c .cant even run our own post service.all these so called IT,consultants i here about, where are they? on the dole
I will admit that in my 30+ IT career and in particular the latter 20y where I worked freelance within investment banking being freelance enabled me to call out when something was not right whilst those in permanent roles were reticent to speak up for fear of their career prospects and or bonus entitlements.
Of course doing so was often a poisonous chalice in that I would then be made responsible for remediating the situation which often was not an easy job, however it meant acquiring knowledge about some ill-documented process and likely offshored -because it's cheap, software stack which added interest and variety to my principle role and along the way you would make new friends and a fair share of enemies.
From what I have seen wrt this scandal is the breadth and magnitude of incompetency displayed by both the parties involved - truly outstanding...
Of course doing so was often a poisonous chalice in that I would then be made responsible for remediating the situation which often was not an easy job, however it meant acquiring knowledge about some ill-documented process and likely offshored -because it's cheap, software stack which added interest and variety to my principle role and along the way you would make new friends and a fair share of enemies.
From what I have seen wrt this scandal is the breadth and magnitude of incompetency displayed by both the parties involved - truly outstanding...
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
It just strikes me that there were scores of people who didn't have the balls to stick their heads above the parapet.
Possibly a Public Sector malaise.
I'm guessing too that it was ICL staff involved before Fujitsu took them over.
ICL was the brainchild of Tony Benn under a Harold Wilson govt in 1968.
They dominated IT technology and IT services in the public sector for decades.
Initially a success but eventually went belly up and had to be rescued. A lot of ICL people would have been retained for continuity.
Terry - Somerset
Established Member
I understand the police investigation is not expected to generate a prosecution (if any) until 2026.
Both the victims and society more generally has been failed by the PO, public enquiry (3 years on and still no result) and will now be failed by the police. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Both the victims and society more generally has been failed by the PO, public enquiry (3 years on and still no result) and will now be failed by the police. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Govt and PO will be hoping that quashed convictions and cash compensation will be enough to sweep it under the carpet.
If you have the time I would recommend listening to the Radio 4 series The Great Post Office Trial some 21 x 16min episodes started 10 years ago.
An aspect I find surprising and noted by others in the media is how investigative journalism - Computer Weekly, Private Eye and this series by the BBC covered this as it unfolded yet it has taken the recent ITV dramatisation to bring this the public prominence it deserves
An aspect I find surprising and noted by others in the media is how investigative journalism - Computer Weekly, Private Eye and this series by the BBC covered this as it unfolded yet it has taken the recent ITV dramatisation to bring this the public prominence it deserves
sploo
Somewhat extinguished member
I don't think that's a purely public sector disease. Having worked in both (public and private), stirring the pot is generally a way to get yourself the wrong sort of attention. As such, the "smart" people keep their heads down. Fortunately there are those brave souls who will flag up shady behaviour, but sadly they're rarely rewarded (even when proved to be right).
Jameshow
Established Member
I think the PO didn't have the skills to create the system so they outsourced it to Fujitsu, they got a software package back which they didn't fully understand and couldn't debug so they had to believe it worked....and prosecutors who weren't IT expects who had to simply believe it worked!
I think this shows how little a large part of the population read nowadays. If it’s not fed to them on mainstream TV or social media they ignore it. I’ve been following this story for years but you have to look hard to find it sometimes.
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sploo
Somewhat extinguished member
The public have the attention span of a goldfish; so anything that can't be explained in a catchy soundbite will fall on deaf ears.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
My neices and nephew were brought up without a newspaper let alone a book or magazine in the house, and I don't suppose for a moment they are unique.
Terry - Somerset
Established Member
PO may not have had the skills to develop their own software, but given the frequency with which losses were occurring they should have realised something was amiss.
A small post office is not a £m business with 10,000s of transactions per day. It is a small business serving possibly 200-1000 customers over a week - many simply stamps, parcels, etc.
Their daily transactions could have been validated by almost any competent professional accountant from a daily transaction log. Even if the log was flawed it would normally be possible to identify anomalous material entries.
The failure to investigate, simply prosecute, is characteristic of plain incompetence, denial or malicious intent.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Yes. According to the excellent site referred to earlier many imbalances were caused by the repeated hitting of a key as the screen froze, and the amounts still registering - it can't be too difficult to spot them, surely?
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sploo
Somewhat extinguished member
Mentioned that some pages back. Very normal to check for duplicates in software systems; so if there was any suspicion of problems then checking for identical transactions that happen in a short space of time would be both an obvious and fairly easy thing to do.
