The decades ultra-long spluttering dynamite fuse of the egregious Post Office scandal, the most heinous miscarriage of British justice, has eventually spectacularly exploded into the public and political consciousness with the peerless ITV media drama-documentary Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Justice delayed is justice denied, and it is extraordinary in hindsight how in clear sight a purblind justice system – judges, juries, lawyers and indeed most of the public – were evidently befuddled, bamboozled and techno- intimidated by the malign malfeasance of corrupt unscrupulous Post Office executives, by Fujitsu, and indeed by parliamentary political paymasters.
A Kafkaesque corporate brand saga facilitated and enforced by incurious and incompetent jobsworth enforcement operatives.
The ignition was fanned by the occasional valiant and determined oxygenating efforts of a handful of inquisitive stand-out journalists from Computer Weekly, Private Eye, Guardian, BBC and some others, together with a small coterie of concerned and resolute MPs, of which Jame Arbuthnot and Kevan James were notable though not sole exemplars Tragically and incomprehensibly, the majority of the daily national newspaper demonstrably failed in their intermittent reportage efforts to detonate the requisite effective remedial action until the empathic public outrage demand for immediate remedial action, accountability and due recompense proved irresistible.
Even the salt-wounding iniquity of the misappropriated CBE award sounding-gong succumbed to public campaigning pressure, and belatedly–in PO parlance – has now been Returned to sender by Paula Vennells, having been originally sanctioned by the then PM Theresa May!
What therefore was–and is, the role of the local and regional daily/weekly newspapers in reporting and investigating the PO scandal saga, specifically the South Wales Argus, the Monmouthshire Free Press and the Monmouthshire Beacon?
What has been the frequency and detailing of their press coverage of the PO scandal issue?
How many sub-postmasters/mistresses in Monmouthshire have been adversely affected? What has been the response – if any, of the elected Westminster and Senedd Parliamentary elected representatives on the matter?
At a time when newspaper sales are regrettably generally falling, perhaps your readers could be informed what are the answers to these pertinent and vital questions of citizens democratic justice?
Peter Evans
Chepstow