Carol Vorderman praises Alan Bates for snubbing OBE
Carol Vorderman sang the praises of ITV Mr Bates vs The Post Office’s real-life hero Alan Bates after he snubbed an OBE title.
The Welsh star, 63, is thought for not holding again on her social and political opinions, and on Tuesday she raved over Alan’s daring gesture.
The ITV drama – which sees impeccable Toby Jones as Alan – sheds a lightweight on one of many best miscarriage of justice in British authorized historical past – the place lots of of harmless sub-postmasters and postmistresses have been wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting as a consequence of a faulty IT system.
After placing on an tireless battle, Alan was not too long ago supplied an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) title however rejected it, as a result of former Post Office boss Paula Vennells nonetheless holds her personal honour.
Paula, 65, was chief government officer of Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019 – and nonetheless holds her Commander of the Order of the British Empire title since 2019 – regardless of being accountable for lots of of unjust prosecutions.
Carol Vorderman sang the praises of ITV Mr Bates vs The Post Office real-life hero Alan Bates after her snubbed an OBE title
After placing on an tireless battle, Alan, 63 (pictured), was not too long ago supplied an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) title however rejected it, as former Post Office boss Paula Vennells nonetheless holds her personal honour
Taking to her X web page, the Countdown favorite penned: ‘Alan Bates turned down an OBE as Paula Vennells, the girl answerable for the Post Office by means of the Horizon Scandal, retains her CBE and refuses to provide it again. A person of honour #MrBatesVsThePostOffice #PostOfficeScandal
Carol went on quoting Alan’s remark from The Mirror and wrote: ‘Alan, 69: ”The very first thing that sprang to my thoughts whereas studying the letter (providing me an OBE) was Paula Vennells nonetheless had a CBE. I felt so deeply insulted.
‘She presided over a coverage of harassing lots of of harmless individuals. It’s not simply that the Government hasn’t requested her to return it. What’s even worse is that regardless of realizing the power of feeling about it, how individuals have suffered and a few circumstances died on her watch – she would not really feel inclined to provide it again.”
Carol completed praising the previous sub-postmaster: ‘Alan accepted a award in 2023. We have been over the moon to provide that to him. Not all heroes put on capes.’
But that wasn’t the one time Carol advocated for the problem, as she inspired her followers to observe the ITV collection.
She captioned: ‘Please watch #MrBatesVsThePostOffice.
‘It is nearly not possible to consider this has occurred and that IT CONTINUES. Hundreds of sub postmasters wrongly accused of fraud, many jailed, lots of nonetheless want their convictions squashed.. They had performed nothing incorrect. The Horizon pc system launched by the Post Office was utterly at fault.’
In one other tweet, the BBC sensation took a stand and wrote: ‘Paula Vennells, CEO of Post Office, given CBE 2019 ‘for providers to the Post Office and to charity’ Alan Bates has refused an OBE whereas she retained hers.’
The ITV drama – which sees impeccable Toby Jones (pictured) as Alan – sheds a lightweight on one of many best miscarriage of justice in British authorized historical past – the place lots of of harmless sub-postmasters and postmistresses have been wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting as a consequence of a faulty IT system
Paula, 65 (pictured), was chief government officer of Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019 – and nonetheless holds her Commander of the Order of the British Empire title since 2019 – regardless of being accountable for lots of of unjust prosecutions
Carol raved over Alan’s daring gesture and shared her views on her X web page
The TV character took a stand and advocated for the victims, making an attempt to unfold consciousness in regards to the challenge on her social media web page
‘#MrBatesvsPostOffice For years Labour has been formally asking for her CBE to be withdrawn. Here is his SECOND letter to the Honours Forfeiture Committee.
She continued: ‘The award of a CBE to Paula Vennells, ‘an individual who resided over the widest miscarriage of justice in English authorized historical past, is completely incorrect and deeply insulting to those that suffered prosecutions throughout her tenure.
‘We await the reply from a Committee which wants to drag its finger out. #MrBatesvsPostOffice #Horizon.’
The collection follows the true story of lots of of subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted for theft by the Post Office as a consequence of a defective IT system.
And within the newest addition it was revealed how pc agency Fujitsu, employed by the Post Office, have been unknowingly capable of remotely alter the subpostmaster’s inputted monetary figures.
With Michael Rudkin (performed by Shaun Dooley) who was additionally wrongly convicted saying: ‘That means they’ll sneak in behind your backs, change your figures and bugger off and depart with out a hint’.
Viewers have been ‘disgusted’ by the revelation and took to X, previously referred to as Twitter, of their droves fuming that justice had nonetheless not but been served.
One wrote: ‘This is making my blood boil. Post Office should’ve recognized that Fujitsu had full distant entry however why would they permit it? All in it collectively? Smelling too many rats tbh!’.
While a second stated: ‘So surprising and actually making my blood boil. I did not realise the Fujitsu connection’.
Toby, 57, who leads the forged as the previous subpostmaster has revealed that Alan shunned him – as a result of he did not assume he was worthy of being depicted as a hero.
‘Alan is sort of a unprecedented man who presents as one of the vital peculiar individuals you’ll be able to meet’, the actor stated in an interview with BAFTA.
‘So whenever you come to play somebody like that, I wanted to seek out out who he was, what made him do that extraordinary factor and unite lots of of, a thousand individuals, in a single place and tackle the may of the company submit workplace.
‘And that was an ideal shock as a result of he felt that he himself wasn’t worthy of being heroic as a result of there was nothing uncommon about him.
‘He wasn’t an ideal supply of fabric, he was very pleasant and heat, however he stated, ‘I’m simply not a really emotional man’.
‘So, I went to talk to different individuals who knew him, and so they stated, Alan Bates is likely one of the smartest and inspirational individuals they’d ever met.
‘There is a paradox about him.
‘All of my dealings with him have been nice. They have not helped me play him very a lot, however they have been nice.’
The scandal is taken into account probably the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British historical past, resulting in the inquiry into what went incorrect, and who was accountable.
Between 2000 and 2014, a mean of 1 Post Office employee per week was prosecuted, for theft, false accounting and different offences, by the Post Office.
The collection follows the true story of lots of of subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted for theft by the Post Office as a consequence of a defective IT system
And within the newest addition it was revealed how pc agency Fujitsu, employed by the Post Office, have been unknowingly capable of remotely alter the subpostmaster’s inputted monetary figures
With Michael Rudkin (performed by Shaun Dooley) who was additionally wrongly convicted saying: ‘That means they’ll sneak in behind your backs, change your figures and bugger off and depart with out a hint’
Between 2000 and 2014, a mean of 1 Post Office employee per week was prosecuted, for theft, false accounting and different offences, by the Post Office
From a complete of 736, many have been jailed, bankrupted and suffered appalling stress and public disgrace.
For years Royal Mail and its pc companion Horizon – a system developed by the Japanese firm Fujitsu – insisted that they have been remoted circumstances.
The four-part collection has acquired a mountain of reward since airing its first episode on New Year’s Day.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office assessment: A primary-class exposé of the human ache behind this scandal, writes CHRISTOPHER STEVENS
Have you ever peeled an unfranked stamp off an envelope and re-used it? If so, the Post Office has a phrase for you: fraudster.
Royal Mail ¿ which ran the Post Office till 2012 ¿ warns on its web site: ‘Any one that knowingly reuses stamps for postage is committing fraud.’ This is a legal offence, liable to prosecution.
Yet 25 years in the past, when the Post Office pc system started malfunctioning so badly that many sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses have been pushed out of enterprise, Royal Mail ¿ so stringent in castigating the smallest rule-bending by prospects ¿ refused to hear or examine pretty.
Toby Jones, as a defiant sub-postmaster operating a store in Llandudno, North Wales, summed it up in a stinging speech in the beginning of Mr Bates vs The Post Office: ‘They’re not calling me a thief. They would not dare. They say cash’s in some way gone lacking from this department, which it hasn’t, and I’ve to pay it again, which I will not.’
This main, new four-part drama, airing nightly with a documentary to comply with on Friday, highlights simply three tales of lots of
A browbeaten younger copper, caught between the livid Alan Bates and an unsympathetic auditor, requested whether or not any precise crime had been dedicated.
‘Well,’ fumed the person behind the counter, ‘Post Office Limited is stealing my livelihood, my store, my job, my residence, my life financial savings ¿ and my good identify.’
He was not alone. Between 2000 and 2014, a mean of 1 sub-postmaster or sub-postmistress per week was prosecuted, for theft, false accounting and different offences, by the Post Office. From a complete of 736, some have been jailed, many have been bankrupted, all suffered appalling stress and public disgrace.
Yet for years Royal Mail and its pc companion Horizon ¿ a system developed by the Japanese firm Fujitsu ¿ insisted that these have been remoted circumstances. In an period earlier than social media, a lot of these accused had no concept that some other retailers have been going through the identical issues, and assumed the fault should in some way be theirs.
This main, new four-part drama, airing nightly with a documentary to comply with on Friday, highlights simply three tales of these lots of. In Hampshire, Jo Hamilton (Monica Dolan) was spending hours on the Horizon helpline, patiently following directions and watching the imaginary discrepancies mount up.
Phoning to plead that the pc anticipated her to financial institution £2,032.67 greater than she had taken prior to now week, she re-entered the figures as she was advised ¿ and noticed the shortfall double on display screen to greater than £4,000.
‘It’ll kind itself out,’ the voice on the helpline advised her. But it did not, and shortly Jo had emptied her financial savings and maxed out her bank cards, making an attempt to bridge the hole. She did not dare inform her husband or her mom till they have been confronted with remortgaging the home.
In Bridlington, Yorkshire, Lee Castleton (Will Mellor) made the error of considering that if he referred to as within the auditors, they’d realise the £25,858.95 he was accused of misappropriating was the results of pc errors. Instead, Royal Mail barred him from his personal store and sued him for the cash. His youngsters have been bullied in school, and taunted that their father was a standard thief.
‘You’ve simply bought to belief within the British justice system,’ Lee advised himself. ‘Tell the reality and every part shall be all proper.’ It wasn’t, although: he misplaced the case and was ordered to pay £321,000 in prices.
The Daily Mail waged an extended marketing campaign to win justice for the accused, one thing this serial has not thus far acknowledged. What it additionally fails to say is that Adam Crozier, chief government of Royal Mail Group between 2003 and 2010, later grew to become CEO of ITV.
This screenplay by Gwyneth Hughes does, nevertheless, convey the overwhelming worry of going through a bureaucratic juggernaut that refuses to acknowledge the chance it is likely to be incorrect about something. With limitless authorized funds at its disposal to bully nearly each particular person into silence (with the heroic exception of Mr Bates), Royal Mail was omnipotent, remorseless and heartless.
That inhuman energy was symbolised by the convoy of black saloon vehicles that rolled up outdoors every rural sub-post workplace, in the beginning of every audit.
‘When I first bought authorized recommendation,’ Mr Bates says, ‘I used to be warned that if I attempted to take them to courtroom, even when I gained, the Post workplace would simply hold interesting until I ran out of cash.’ That’s chilling, merciless and all too plausible. But the drama additionally captures the decency of Britain’s sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses, the quintessential shopkeepers as soon as on the core of so many communities.
They’re a uncommon breed now and should quickly be extinct, the way in which Royal Mail goes. If a single one among them had been fiddling the books, it will have appeared surprising and unbelievable. For 736 to be prosecuted defies all rational perception.
Because the victims have been such a well-known, well-liked sort, the three on this retelling win our rapid sympathy. After Jo Hamilton is dragged into the dock and harried into pleading responsible to an offence that was not her fault, half the village seems to cheer her on. The native vicar declares from the witness field: ‘We all love her. People speak in confidence to her. We belief her, and we simply cannot consider that any of this was on goal in any means.’
Watching that scene, with lumps in our throats because the decide permits Jo to stroll free, each Mail reader should have given a cheer, too.
