Month: May 2023

My Post Office, My Government, My disgrace.

manseljames1 Comment

My Government held the keys. My Government sat on its hands. My government watched injustice and corruption and ignored the Post Office oversight of Horizon scandal. My Government allows the managers to pick up enormous bonuses years after the scandal was exposed. My Government ignored that many former postmasters and postmistresses had their lives ruined. How can this be?

The Postmasters and mistresses had to cope with the long-term impact of a criminal conviction and imprisonment, some at a time when they had been pregnant or had young children. Marriages broke down, and courts have heard how some families believe the stress led to health conditions, addiction and premature deaths.

The office of Post Master General was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act of 1969. A replacement corporation, governed by a chairman, was established under the name of the Post Office (later subsumed by The Royal Mail Group. The cabinet position of Postmaster General was replaced by a Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, with reduced powers, until 1974; most regulatory functions have now been delegated to the The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, and Sport.

The cases of individual suffering are too many to mention, yet the law stood bye, and magistrates and judges continued to send innocent people to prison. The Government sat on its hands when it was obvious that something was radically wrong. The Managers and Directors of the Post Office continued to deny the probability that the technology was at fault, they preferred to believe that long-serving faithful employees had suddenly turned into crooks. How could this be?

Suicide and ruination of families has been the common lot of Post Office sub post-masters/mistresses and yet through the several governments since the beginning of this dreadful saga, no one in Government has intervened. Yes, this Group of companies is owned by you and me, it is overseen by our so-called Government. The clowns and the self important influencers have shown that as far as the Post Office goes no one cares or gives a damn.

Included in this hall of shame must be, The Government, The Chairpersons and Directors (executive and non-executive)of the Post office Group, the auditors and many lawyers and defenders of our system of fairness. Last of all, you and me. What sort of corrupt system do we allow by our acquiescence?

We condescend to laugh at banana republics, what is the UK? A corrupt and careless society where only influencers matter. Shame on us all!

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The King and I.

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I will readily admit, that in this day and age the idea of a ‘Head of State’ being a heredity title seems absolutely crazy. Here we are, the so called upholders of Democracy, fully (or nearly) embracing the House of Windsor as our begetter of our Head of State. Madness!

Why did at least 20 million Brits and assorted mad foreigners congregate with such joy at the Coronation of King Charles the third. Charles the first didn’t make it and was beheaded, Charles the Second was a benign egghead and a bit of a lad he had at least 13 mistresses including Nel Gwyn and we ‘ve has a series of clowns and odd balls as our Head of Sate ever since. I won’t bother to catalogue the episodes of eccentricity, vulgarity, even treasonable behaviour that has plagued the royal household, merely acknowledge the multiple oddities of the passed Monarchs.

Since George the Sixth, Elizabeth the Second, and now Charles the Third, The United Kingdom and Commonwealth of nations have enjoyed a head of state that first gathered us together in the unity of common battles to save democracy, to fight for right, and to respect the primacy of parliament. They were preceded by Victoria as worshipped a Leader as there ever was, despite her closeted existence. All our royal ancestors since 1689have been German or Mainland European. It was only in 1917 that the existing monarch household changed its name from Sax-Coberg to Windsor.

The royal households have not escaped the movement of history or modern technology. They have evolved from the tribal leaders of Ethelred to the sophisticates of modern day. The one word that has been constant has been LEADER and if they did not sustain leadership then there have been many instances of their failure.

England and the United Kingdom have been a republic before, under Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard from 1649 to 1659. Charles the Second was brought back as our leader by Parliament in 1659.

Through modern history, the Victorian era and the world wars, we have been happy with our lot as loyal subject of the Saxe-Cobergs come Windsors. Why change?

It is clearly at odds with democracy to have the Head of State unelected, and born by right to rule.

Although constitutionally the right to rule exists, in practice it does not. In the UK we have the Primacy of Parliament, and the basic rights laid down by King John (through the will of the then parliament) in the Magna Carta which in practice over rides the rule of the throne. That is not to say that those who are of the Royal family do not have influence. They do, but it is hushed and termed soft power.

Why not get rid of the royal family their heirs and successors and save the exchequer a lot of cash?

Looking at the alternatives, that we should elect a Head of State and give that person the role now ensconced in the King. Election is after all the basis of democracy, one person one vote. If the Head of State does a poor job we can then change him/her via the electoral system. Looking at the electoral results over the last fifty years does not give me much enthusiasm for this idea. The Air heads, Crooks and Lunatics of the last ten years alone gives us fear to trust what will inevitably become a political election.

As the royal family has changed with the time, especially modern times, it has become progressively more servant than served. The present King’s mother Elizabeth was loved and respected both as a person and as a monarch. Despite the slings and arrows of everyday life, of loves, loathing, sickness and health, we have a King who will serve us well. Above politics, a man who believes in goodness and care. I vote for King Charles the Third.

Long live the KING.