Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "The London Standard" channel.

  1. It would be interested to learn more details of pre-Horizon prosecutions, if such documentation is available. In particular, the quality of evidence presented. Not that this justifies Thomson throwing those who trusted him under the first passing bus, of course.
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  2. So, you believe that the role of the Federation was unquestionably to support POL's line, and to disregard any SPM concerns? That it should regard preservation of the Federation itself, and of course the salaries of senior officials, as the only raison d'etre it had? That a few hundred SPMs being wrongly punished or imprisoned was a price worth paying if it safeguarded the almighty Federation? Perhaps you might explain what leads you to conclude that what Bates, Hamilton, and others said and are saying was false? Do you really believe that SPMs in this predicament were all dishonest, as seems to be George's view? Do you suggest that other SPMs should have waited passively until the system arbitrarily decided that their turn had come?
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  3.  @MYCROFTonX  So someone has an 'agenda?' Oh dear, are you one of those crazy conspiracy fantasists? Have you any views about 9/11, the Moon Landings, or Titanic, perhaps?!
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  4.  @timsmith2279  Do you really not know? Because Post Office interrogators told them that, if they 'confessed' and undertook not to refer to the wondrously 'robust' Horizon computer, they would not demand a custodial sentence. Haven't you been watching??
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  5.  @timsmith2279  None. The same happens to my posts from time to time.
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  6. No. Barney was a pleasant, affable, character.
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  7. Not to put too fine a point on it, the inevitable conclusion seems to be that he was willing to sacrifice some Federation members if it meant that, by becoming a loyal servant of the mighty Post Office and accepting their funding, he could ensure the survival of the Federation, at least in name, and protect his own salary at the same time.
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  8. That is my worry. How many British companies are infested, at high levels, with self-serving over-promoted creatures like this one and those around her? Perhaps it explains many things?
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  9.  @saulgoodman2278  Sadly, as is becoming clear throughout Britain, she is far from a one-ff.
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  10.  @al1356  Agreed. I encountered a few myself.
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  11. A number of those who have given evidence are 'persons of interest' to the Police, but it is unlikely actual action can be taken until Sir Wyn releases his conclusions.
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  12. Really unfair. Thomson stated at the outset that he was not at the Inquiry to make friends. He succeeded totally in his ambition. It became obvious from the start that his intention was to ensure the survival of the Federation, even if this involved converting it into a paid offshoot of Post Office management. This had the happy result, also, of protecting George's salary. Surely, in his mind, the sacrifice of a few hundred SPMs was a price worth paying. After all, weren't they thieves and liars anyway?!
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  13. Unfair. He seems to have hated everyone. Except dear Paula, of course.
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  14.  @trmm763  Yes, they were self-employed small business owners. But the Federation was supposed to represent their interests. Do you really believe that you can justify George's approach of 'There were only a few, and they were probably thieves anyway. Or at least that was what dear Paula told me?' Seriously? If profit was all that mattered, perhaps employing slave labour in the sub Post Offices might have been the way forward?
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  15. What truth might that have been? The truth that dear Paula told him that Horizon was Robust os it must have been, or the truth that those SPMs who were experiencing problems were simply crooks and liars?
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  16.  @mrpastryify  “It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine.” P.G. Wodehouse.
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  17. Unfair. What have Neanderthals ever done to you?
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  18. Sad thing is. The other three who gave evidence demonstrated exactly the same ineptitude.
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  19. I wonder if Mr. Bradshaw is aware that 'I was only obeying orders' didn't work at Nuremburg? I doubt it, as he didn't actually seem aware of much.
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  20. Running the Federation as a personal fiefdom, and for the purpose of naked self-interest, is not, I fear, a criminal offence.
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  21. I disagree that he is typical. I negotiated with a few and, however much we didn't agree, it was always clear to me that they had what they believed to have been the best interests of their members at heart. This creature would clearly have thrown those he 'represented' under the nearest bus if he thought he would benefit personally by so doing.
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  22.  @Francoop4  You need the pity of most people if you think that Thomson came across well, as you are clearly deluded.
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  23.  @Francoop4  If you mean by that I have an opinion, and am able to use reasoned argument to support it, then yes I am. In this case, however, seeing the behaviour of this Thomson creature, argument was not necessary at he hoist himself with his own Petard.
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  24. Because the prosecutions were not 'obviously false' at the time. The courts were, and perhaps still are, in thrall to technology. When they asked Post Office prosecutors if the SPMs were guilty of theft/false accounting, the reply was 'They must have been. The almighty computer says that they were.' No-one, certainly not this vile Thomson creature, was willing to argue.
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  25. I think you miss the point. A friend of mine once said to me that 'people often confuse 'justice' with 'the law' when in fact any connection is tenuous at best.' Sadly, my friend was, and is, a barrister.
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  26.  @AtifAli-dc6cr  The victims have been released on bail. Which is not the same thing at all.
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  27.  @AtifAli-dc6cr  ' police officer threw the first punch and also put the bystanders in danger.' I am confident that you will have the honesty and integrity to withdraw that comment in the light of the new information released this Sunday morning. Won't you?
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  28. Stop being so insulting about Orangutans.
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  29. Put simply, because of the faith in technology. When courts asked for the evidence of wrong-doing, the Post Office prosecutors simply said 'Here it is. The almighty computer says so.' Unfortunately, doubt and disbelief was suspended in favour of this mantra. When people like Thomson, in a position at least to challenge this assumption in support of Federation members, decided to protect their own salaries instead, the whole tragedy began to unfold.
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  30.  @jimreynolds2399  Lawyers from the legal firms involved have been interviewed, and in most cases found wanting. What happens next will depend on the findings of the Inquiry.
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  31. I can't quite see him as a Diversity Manager, however!
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  32. It will be interesting to read Sir Wyn's assessment of him.
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  33. But he was certainly assiduous in the manner he protected his salary, even if that meant throwing a few SPMs off a cliff.
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  34. No he isn't. But neither did he provide any SPM with the kind of support they were entitled to expect from their Federation.
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  35. I expect that dear Alice will emerge unscathed. Being Labour Royalty will ensure that.
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  36. One or two look like Second Rows I used to face in the pack. Especially the two my wife calls 'The Rottweilers.'
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  37. You mean that selling out wrongly accused members of his Federation in order to protect that Federation and George's salary was a price worth paying? An interesting, but minority, opinion, to say the least.
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  38. I don't recall hearing much of an explanation of any sort from Thomson. Except perhaps that 'Horizon is robust. Paula told me.'
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  39. Don't you mean 'Paula' as he referred to her?
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  40. As we have come to expect from politicians from all parties.
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  41. Simpler than that. The Post Office funded the NFSP totally, thus supporting George's, presumably, excellent salary. The NFSP had been hemorrhaging membership, and thus finance, for some time, and doubtless George saw selling his soul to the PO as a means of shoring up his lifestyle.
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  42. He is no longer in his job, and the current leadership of the Federation have denounced him & distanced themselves from his views.
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  43.  @sheila1949  Even a professional would have needed to have had the patience of a Saint not to have shown irritation with that creature. When the Chair of the Inquiry, a vastly experienced Judge, showed similar 'irritation' that should tell everyone something.
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  44. As it seems that all decisions are made, not by the ministers themselves, but by their 'people' what actual purpose do ministers serve?
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  45. Ah, but you misunderstand his thought processes. If he had to convert the Federation into an offshoot of POL management in order to ensure it, and his doubtless excellent salary, survived, then the destruction of the lives of a few hundred SPMs was a price well worth paying. After all, dear Paula assured him that Horizon was wonderful, didn't she? Therefore, those SPMs who had problems must have been liars and thieves, mustn't they?
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  46. Rather, most people hoped was extinct.
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  47.  @stevec6427  Perhaps you don't know that Farage is close to Trump? I doubt he couldn't stir things up to a greater extent than Lammy, Starmer, & Rayner already have done, even if he sought to try.
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  48. 'Valid points?' I must have missed those.
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  49. So those wrongly prosecuted by POL were nothing more than collateral damage, were they? You would get on with George, I suspect.
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  50.  @davidallan5671  I believe that appointing LibDems to ministerial roles was part of the coalition deal with the loathsome Nick Clegg. Given the quality of the average LibDem MP, there really weren't many competent alternatives, as Swinson was to demonstrate.
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