Mr Bates v Post Office - shades of Robodebt?

The Westminster Tradition

Season 2 kicks off with a deeper look at the British Post Office fiasco.
Gaslighting critics, false confessions, aggressive litigation tactics, challenges with redress, and no accountability from senior leaders - sound familiar?

• Nick Wallis BBC4 podcast The Great Post Office Trial
• Alison's recommended listening re psychological safety, Adam Grant's Think Again
• On the 'objective review' conducted by the Post Office in 2010 to make the strongest case as to why Horizon should be trusted, see, Nick Wallis Rod Ismay: The Useful Idiot
• Tony Moore 'Sorry' not such a hard work for Peter Beattie to say
• Sylvan Baker, Mr Bates vs The Post Office: why docudramas have the power to inspire real social and political change
• Channel 7 has secured the Australian rights to Mr Bates v Post Office.

Intro grab features Paula Vennells, Chief Executive of Post Office, appearing before a Parliamentary Select Committee in 2015.
Outro grab features Peter Beattie apologising for excluding athletes from the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony in 2018.

Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....
Those of us in the employ of the State Government speak in a strictly personal capacity, consistent with the Public Sector Code of Ethics that permits public servants to promote an outcome in relation to an issue of public interest - in this case, the betterment of the public service.
Nothing we say should be taken as representing the views of the Government or our employers.
While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.
If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.
Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [e-mail].
Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music.
'Til next time!