The UK's dirty corners . . .

[Roger]

I've been stunned at the succession of disgraceful stories of injustice and corruption in the UK in the last few weeks. Some go back for decades :-

1. The Post Office - problems with 'Horizon' software covered up for years while many hundreds of local Postmasters endured false accusation https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/23/22399721/uk-post-office-software-bug-criminal-convictions-overturned

2. The Deepcut barracks deaths - an ongoing tragedy endured by the Families - apparently one more case was hidden from the Investigators https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57428716

3. Daniel Morgan a P.I. murdered - a report suggest the Met police were 'rotten to the core'. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9690077/Corruption-cover-ups-Met-Police-chief-face-consequences.html

4.The BBC re-employed Martin Bashir whilst knowing of his criminal deception of Princess Diana.

I'm sure all Democracies have their problems but even so  . . . . . . 

[Roger]

More dirty corners - what HAS happened to the UK   

"Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi should have been identified as a threat to security on the night he killed 22, a public inquiry ruled today - as it revealed nine missed opportunities to stop the deadliest attack on British soil since 2005. Inquiry chair Sir John Saunders said Arena operator SMG, its security provider Showsec and British Transport Police, who patrolled the area adjoining Manchester Victoria rail station, were 'principally responsible' for the failings.

In a blistering summary, he criticised 'serious shortcomings' by stewards for Showsec, particularly after a worried parent drew their attention to the bomber lurking around suspiciously for nearly an hour but a poorly-trained security guard did not want to confront him for fear of being called racist. He also slammed British Transport Police after officers drove five miles for a kebab over a two-hour lunch break, leaving no one on duty in the City Room Foyer, where Abedi blew himself up on May 22, 2017 during an Ariana Grande concert." 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9696673/Damning-report-reveals-Manchester-bomber-easily-dodged-security-kill-22.html

And . . . .

"Priti Patel and Robert Buckland have apologised to rape victims, as they admitted they were “deeply ashamed” that thousands of them have been denied justice. The Home Secretary, Justice Secretary and Attorney General Michael Ellis said the failings in the criminal justice system were “completely unacceptable,” as they pledged to prosecute more than 1,000 extra rape suspects by the end of the current Parliament.

“We owe this to every victim and are extremely sorry that the system has reached this point,” they said in a 60-page review setting out measures to reverse plummeting rape prosecution rates. “These are trends of which we are deeply ashamed. Victims of rape are being failed. Thousands of victims have gone without justice. But this isn’t just about numbers – every instance involves a real person who has suffered a truly terrible crime.

“We are not prepared to accept that rape is just ‘too difficult’ a crime to prosecute. We can, and must, do better. At the heart of this review is a system and culture change to ensure that victims feel supported and able to stay engaged with their case.” The review revealed more than half (57 per cent) of rape victims withdraw from their cases because they feel disbelieved or judged, fear for their mental health, and cannot face the trauma of a trial.

Of an estimated 128,000 rape victims in the past year, just 1,929 saw their suspected attacker charged, a rate of only 1.5 per cent, down from more than eight per cent on just five years ago."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/06/17/priti-patel-deeply-ashamed-many-rape-victims-have-denied-justice/

[Roger]

Earlier - "The Post Office - problems with 'Horizon' software covered up for years while many hundreds of local Postmasters endured false accusation".

Today     

". . . . no matter how often they are restated (far from often enough), the details of the Post Office scandal are so incredible as to be almost literally impossible to believe. Put as sparsely as possible, 736 subpostmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting in their branches, between 2000 and 2014. Yet they had done nothing wrong, The fault was with a new computer system designed by Fujitsu and forced on to them by Post Office management – a system that top brass allegedly knew was faulty.

The individual stories are horrific. People’s lives were ruined; at least four took their own lives. Many were imprisoned, including a teenager. Tech was trusted over humans with unblemished records. As things stand, more than a year into the belated inquiry, not a single person has been held to legal account . . . "

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/02/post-office-horizon-scandal-inquiry

[Hector]

".......Tech was trusted over humans with unblemished records........"
Just wait till AI gets a hold!

[Roger]

Hector you make a good point - this Post Office scandal was hideously cruel and unjust.

AI holds out the prospect of more of the same  . . . .

[Roger]

I listened to 'The Great Post Office Trial', 2 episodes on BBC R4 and the saga continues - it is beyond comprehension. Of the 700 or more Postmasters persecuted many have died in false disgrace. The Post Office and their legal helpers have not acted with any haste in putting the situation as right as is possible, by paying adequate compensation promptly.

Can you imagine the anguish and shame of the 'sort' of person who becomes a Post Master or Post Mistress being sacked and branded criminal, often enduring imprisonment too ?

In that BBC programme, Nick Read the new Boss at the Post Office comes over a slimy evasive character - part of the UK's new 'Elite' on a salary of £800K, whilst the previous Boss, Paula Vennels, basks in her CBE and glorious pension having presided over these 700 disasters for 7 years without basically giving a tinker's toss.

Coming back to AI - Nick Read speaks as if an AI automaton, not human at all.

**************

Just noticed this comment in WikiP :-

"In January 2020, as the High Court case against the Post Office ended, Vennells's tenure as CEO was strongly criticised by Conservative peer Lord Arbuthnot, who said: "The hallmark of Paula Vennells' time as CEO was that she was willing to accept appalling advice from people in her management and legal teams. The consequences of this were far-reaching for the Post Office and devastating for the subpostmasters. However, there seem to have been no consequences for her."[20] He described the behaviour of the Post Office under her leadership as "both cruel and incompetent", and said that "she was faced with a moral choice and she took the wrong one, the one which allowed hundreds of subpostmasters to be falsely accused, humiliated and ruined by the organisation she ran" "

As I understand it, none of the Managers at the Post Office have faced prosecution as yet.

[Pompui]

Same sh*t, different country. Elites are Elites wherever you are in the world.