'Post Office'

The Public Inquiry rumbles on. In almost every day of sitting some new revelation appears that makes truth seem stranger than fiction. 

It is officially Christmas until the end of 6th January. Those of the Christian tradition (includes those now recovered from sozzled Midnight Mass) might say that you can keep the Tree up until Candlemas - this year 2nd February.

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Thus a hangover story - not that type of hangover -  from Christmas is not inappropriate at the beginning of month:

Child on the Heath, singing: 'A party in a pear tree.'

Hampstead father: 'No, it's partridge.'

Personally I prefer 'party'

As a specialist in attracting bad publicity, the Post Office kept up its record when the assiduous Eleanor Shaikh recently prised out of it - via a Freedom of Information Request - a document starkly revealing how the institution racially profiled the individuals whose lives it ruined in the now well reported Horizon IT Scandal. 

After finishing Nick Wallis's excellent book on the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal, I took a break from reading on the subject. Which made even more powerful catching up with the Panorama programme. I sat and watched with mounting anger, ultimately uttering an expletive as erstwhile CEO Paula Vennells, resplendent in her part-time vicar's dog collar, read from the Bible. It was almost time for a vom.

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'Vom com': An excruciatingly sentimental romantic comedy.

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This is a general piece mostly about the role of lawyers in the Post Office Horizon IT Scandal, focussing on solicitors' conduct duties. It might help those who wonder what those duties are. For erudite in depth legal analyses of the saga consult LinkedIn and writings from Paul Marshall of Cornerstone Chambers and Prof. Richard Moorhead of Exeter University. For a sense of the passion held by a lawyer representing three of the victims consult LinkedIn material from Nick Gould of Aria Grace Solicitors.

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There are so many topics of thinking in life where I struggle to reach a settled view. Amongst my dilemmas is what judgement to make on the law firm that did the salads for women offer on International Women's Day 2017 - see March Late Life Crisis. However, though what follows has not generated a Eureka moment, the Overton window may help as a thinking tool.

We are back to 1999.  Suppose that you are running a small Post Office branch. You enjoy the business: it provides a stable income, you like the people contact, and your customers value the service you give to the community.

However, all is not well. The Post Office have recently introduced a new computer system called 'Horizon'. The system is designed by Fujitsu. It is supposed to simplify your accounting for daily takings. Yet it is doing the opposite. You are starting to see accounting shortfalls.