Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "Post Office Inquiry: Jo Swinson says Paula Vennells led her to believe postmasters were stealing" video.

  1.  @johnwainwright6205  Unfortunately, the previous two, Kelly Tolhurst and Pat MacFadden, demonstrated a similar level of irrelevance. It seems that, if these people represent the norm, the Civil Service, not those elected by the public, are the ones making all the decisions.
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  2. What, not a Life Peerage? She would thrive in the House of the Living Dead.
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  3.  @MrAndrewFarrow  I think that the suggestion was simply that each Minister should have done the job which he/she was paid, handsomely, to do. Do you consider that really too much to expect?
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  4. You forgot the 'my people are very clever. They tell me what to do, and I do it.' The same applied to Tolhurst, MacFadden, & Davey, of course.
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  5.  @firstname4865  I don't think that was what the post actually said? Actually, all four ministers used the same self-justifying excuse, that 'my people are very smart and tell me what to do, say, and think. I am, as a Minister, very busy, and shouldn't be expected to think for myself. That is why I signed all those letters in the bottom of my Red Box without bothering to read them.'
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  6.  @firstname4865  Surely, the point was that she didn't act. She was in receipt of a polite letter from Alan Bates simply asking for a meeting to let him explain the SPMs' side of the story. She refused because her 'people' told her not to meet him. If Ministers are such unquestioning little souls, what purpose do they serve? It rather suggests that Civil Servants are running the country, rather than those supposedly elected to run it.
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  7.  @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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  8.  @timsmith2279  None. The same happens to my posts from time to time.
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  9. Sad thing is. The other three who gave evidence demonstrated exactly the same ineptitude.
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  10. I expect that dear Alice will emerge unscathed. Being Labour Royalty will ensure that.
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  11. As we have come to expect from politicians from all parties.
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  12. 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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  13.  @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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  14. All four former ministers followed the same basic theme, which seems to be that, 'my people are very smart and tell me what to do, say, and think. I am, as a Minister, very busy, and shouldn't be expected to think for myself. That is why I signed all those letters in the bottom of my Red Box without bothering to read them.' Would it really have been all that difficult to have arranged a private meeting with Alan Bates, simply to hear what he had to say, instead of simply repeating the civil service mantra that 'Horizon is ROBUST and you shouldn't talk to anyone who seeks to criticise the almighty Post Office.'?
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  15.  @alanfrost4661  I would reserve judgement until Williams presents his findings. Certainly, however, almost no-one is emerging with any credit so far.
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  16. Because that was what the 'contract' required. The alternative was to be suspended from their Post Office, and probably facing criminal charges.
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