Post Office Scandal - The Alice Perkins Apology
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- I take a deep dive into the apology read out by Alice Perkins (former chairman of Post Office Limited board) at the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry. I consider what was wrong with her apology for us and what was right about it for her.
00:00 - Start
07:49 - How Tiresome - Perkins not so perky
11:36 - The short-term hero
"I am very, very sorry even though I did absolutely nothing wrong. In fact I was completely brilliant (except for when I wasn't.) But remember I have just had a VERY tiring morning and I really can't be arsed trying to feign any interest in your impertinent questions. Quite frankly you oiks should be a little more grateful that I have deigned to waste my day by showing up here."
You got it!!
Now, that is what I call a good summary of her testimony. Well done. You've caputred it perfectly!
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@@PaulDuckett Thank you!
@@PaulDuckett Excellent analysis. I have now subscribed. I will repeat here directly to you a comment I made elsewhere on the thread.
Way back in the early to mid 90s, Alice Perkins was my boss. I rarely met her. She came to our office party one Christmas and behaved like the Queen, shaking hands with us lesser mortals and saying things like: "And what do you do?" "Have you come far?" I had to copy to her papers I had drafted. Her name on the copy list was autocorrected to "Alice Porkiness." She is coming out with a lot of porkies here
I don't really think she owed her seniority to her husband. She is demonstrating at the inquiry the "skills" sheemployed to be a success in the civil service. They are not skills that impress the world beyond the mandarinate. She has a silky facility to manipulate words to obfuscate and evade. It is all about damage limitation. It has not gone down well at the inquiry. She has been found out. She is no match for the real forensic skills of people such as Ed Denny KC.
@@michaeloleary2248 V interesting and also sounds familiar, I assume that was when she was still in Whitehall. I used to work in a Whitehall department with Sharon White who is now in charge of John Lewis. When I heard she'd been appointed there I just couldn't understand why they'd appointed her Chair when she had no prior experience in retail... and look how that's turned out!!
the only reason she had the job was because of her husbands political position . She has no record of success and she has no shame at what happened . If she had said "I am ashamed at the role I played in the worst travesty of justice in uk history" but of course such an arrogant woman could never say that. She is just a bully
Jack Straw obviously knew what was happening
She was considered a success in the civil service.
Way back in the early to mid 90s, Alice Perkins was my boss. I rarely met her. She came to our office party one Christmas and behaved like the Queen, shaking hands with us lesser mortals and saying things like: "And what do you do?" "Have you come far?" I had to copy to her papers I had drafted. Her name on the copy list was autocorrected to "Alice Porkiness." She is coming out with a lot of porkies here
I don't really think she owed her seniority to her husband. She is demonstrating at the inquiry the "skills" she employed to be a success in the civil service. They are not skills that impress the world beyond the mandarinate. She has a silky facility to manipulate words to obfuscate and evade. It is all about damage limitation.
It has not gone down well at the inquiry. She has been found out. She is no match for the real forensic skills of people such as Ed Denny KC.
She has a considerable record in government and business; and isn't just an appendage of Straw. Take what view you like of her, but keep it real.
@@RobertJonesWightpaintI hope she goes to jail with Vennells and Van den Bogart. She is lying when she says she didn’t know.
@@RobertJonesWightpaint Her "record" in govt positions shows that she was a "good civil servant "rising to very senior positions as a compliant Public Servant doing very well when Labour were in power. Having a husband in the cabinet did her no harm .Is that where she learnt to make sure that everyone below her was responsible for poor decisions and she was responsible for all good decisons ?. And did she continue to practice that philosophy as the chair of the PO? Her behaviour at the Inquiry would give rise to that supposition as she avoided all responsibleity there except in the general sense of "yes I was Chair but I was ill informed" "ipso facto its not my fault and I am not culpable " typical public servant like Humphrey
She is so convinced of her superiority and is annoyed that lowly people should question her . Just an arrogant person who will never get an honour like MR Bates
Yet they gave Vennells an award, albeit taken from her.
You know she’s already got a CB right?
Thanks for posting. Mark's right. She got a CB. Kind of devalues those awards.
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This woman personifies, along with Vennells, Davis and others the utter incompetence of a senior ex civil service attitude which is extreme arrogance, “do you know who I am”, “we know best and you had better know your place”. Where are the retired captains of Industry who have run big companies and were a perfect fit for the Post Office? Not even asked instead the has beens, who by some stroke of luck had held on long enough were back slapped into a senior post in the real world for which they were totally unprepared and unqualified. This epitomises the Alice Perkins of this world and underlines just how weak our civil service is and how fragile and vulnerable senior management in industry nationwide is because I suspect there are a lot of Alice Perkins types inserted in major companies doing sweet FA to promote nothing but their own exorbitant salary plus perks.
Well said!
Many thanks for posting. It's great to hear your views. I agree with them.
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I used to rate Jack Straw. Not any more. He must have known about Horizon, from his wife. Pillow talk. Both knew. Despicable. Oxbridge educated. Arrogant. Self-important. Overrated.
“Good day dear?”
“Not bad. Shall we talk about the computer system in the post offices over dinner?”
“No thanks”
Absolutely NEVER warmed to Jack Straw. He was well-named as he bent with the prevailing winds! Slippery as an eel, they deserve each other!
I used to have a colleague that used to work for the Foreign Office, back when Jack Straw was Foreign Secretary. She was a language specialist and had been posted all over the middle east as, amongst other things, a fluent Arabic speaker. She was vitriolically antagonistic about Jack Straw and said she could point to numerous occasions where he'd lied to the public and parliament. I don't know what those things were but they led directly to her resignation from the FCO.
As others have commented it's clear from watching the inquiry evidence that the people running the Post Office were mostly completely ill equipped to do so. Perkins is exactly this sort of person.
Straw had Water Wolfgang thrown out of the 2005 conference for heckling him.Walter escaped the Nazis as a child and had been a card carrying Labourite since 1948.
I reckon you are right regarding how these things usually run pretty deep.
Shocking woman. No comapassion, no honour there, just avoidance. I hope they will be brought to "book" for their joint actions. Innocent people have killed themselves because of this shower. Justice must be seen to be done.
Thanks Jim,
I agree.
Thanks so much for posting.
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Lets remember her husband Jack Straw's role in lying about WMD.
😮 is this how she got the job…
The way they described managing the conflict of interest was hilarious. All above board... yes, of course it was.
Thanks for posting
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Absolutely, total disgusting liar who has blood on his hands.
"I want to apologise" is NOT the same as 'an unequivocal I apologise'. Weasel words crafted by media and/or legal people.
Good to hear your views. thanks for posting.
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Her "apology", as well most of the other post office executive's "apologies", appear insincere, because they have been insincere. They are sorry they have been caught, not for the misery they have caused. 😢
- saying something is sincere does not make it so.
Excellent points Dr.
yep, I thnk you are right on this.
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Glad to have your support :)
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Privatised profits and public costs.
The cognitive dissonance from these executives is apparent, crass, self-serving and ultimately in direct opposition to the stated aims of the inquiry.
Criminal charges should be brought against these executives with a full trial to determine their culpability or otherwise.
@@PaulDuckett it is a welcome, but rare, video on TH-cam that is considered, insightful and informative.
Bravo!
When she was questioned by the lady representing some of the subpostmasters, it was explained that she had Jo Hamilton sitting beside her. She made no attempt to address or apologise to her directly. Diabolical behaviour!
Yes, it was really awful.
Thanks for reminder us of that. It was qutie a moment.
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Paul, thank you for your excellent and insightful analysis.@@PaulDuckett
They are only sorry for they got caught out. I wish to honour 'Sir Alan Bates' becasue he and the support from his family gave their all to bring this cover up crime against innocent people to light. Every time he got knocked down he got up again and again. Yes, Vennells his📢 "noise" got louder. He was not paid millions with a juicy pension. It is because he is a decent human being, a truth seeker. Shame on those that lied and hid the truth #karma. Thank you Sir Alan 📮💖🦚🦋💐
Well said :)
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This woman is completely detached from reality......!
to suit her self
Thanks for posting :)
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4 years ?? WHAT THE HELL WAS SHE BEING PAID FOR ?? LIAR !!
She was being paid for being asleep at the wheel and any notion of competence, leadership or common sense was thrown out of the nearest window the instant she crossed the POL threshold.
Indeed!
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Thanks for this very insightful analysis of Alice Perkins's testimony. I can understand your anger, which I share, about the tone and construction of her 'apology'. She's one of the most arrogant people to have appeared hitherto in this inquiry. She seemed extremely annoyed that she'd been summoned there to appear before mere mortals. Her air of entitlement was truly revolting. You're doing great work in deconstructing salient aspects of witnesses' testimony.
Thanks so much for your encouragement. Good to hear your views too.
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Her arrogance and contempt for the “lesser lawyers” she was forced to answer to .. was appalling. Her self proclaimed heroism was easily seen through and no doubt the final report will have her in a very difficult and different place. Her performance was well coached and rehearsed. Chin in hands was a bad look.
Jason Beer KC is not a lesser lawyer, that’s for sure, he is an absolute bulldog with kindness for the right people. As for the core participants’ barristers, blimey, they are also some huge hitters in the legal world Edward Henry KC is an absolute all star in the South Eastern Circuit (how crime is divided in England and Wales) so she was horrifically mistaken if that truly was her attitude to them.
Good to hear from you. Thanks for posting:)
Thanks Mark, didn't know that about Edward Henry, but I agree, I think he's been terrific
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Her arrogance is beyond belief. Disgusting behaviour.
“ I’d like to apologise, but I’m going to make excuses for myself instead”
It wasn’t even her. It was 3 other people. She was at lunch at the time, and she didn’t see anything
Nicely put. I wish they had you in charge of the closed captioning :)
How was this person ever appointed Chairman. She comes across as arrogant, totally ignorant of corporate governance.
She's an utter disgrace and should be prosecuted for lack corporate liability.
That's why they are chosen... totally sociopath.
Thanks for posting desmond :)
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Paul is trying to see Alice as Paula but chairman and chief execs have different roles. Alice should have given an ultimatum - suspend all prosecutions pending SS investigation or I resign. To remain on the board as Chairman when you know the organisation could be perverting the course of justice on a massive scale - is criminal indeed.
I think you're probably right on this Robert,
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Absolutely superb interpretation of this insincere apology. Very very well done! Found it most interesting. She demonstrated an appalling lack of humility in the manner she portrayed by appearing to be totally disinterested in fact bored by having to be called to the enquiry. Her chin resting on her right hand when answering questions was wholly inappropriate and ignorant in the extreme. How on earth was this person appointed to be chairman of the PO board. It would be most interesting if the selection board that confirmed the appointment were named and shamed and made to attend the enquiry and make apologies to all concerned for the horrendous error of judgement they committed in so appointing such an unsuitable figure to such an important position of responsibility.
The reality of a civil service hiring process for unethical cold blooded disingenuous long winded bluffers: shockingly disappointed.
Yep, good point. It is, as you say, shockingly disappointing.
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When are the people who were resonsible for the scandal going to be prosecuted for their crimes?
Time will tell. I don't know if Perkins committed any crimes, but folks like Singh probably did!
Never
I think it now more hope than certainty, regretably. Public anger might be the thing that tips this over in terms of the police upping their game and turing these testimonies and the disclosed documents into criminal evidence for a prosecution.
Who is responsible, going to take a lot of unpacking. It seems a few people if not told lies, did not reveal the truth. Such as those prosecuted were not the only one being so, some evidence not disclosed at trials, etc. Some of the PO staff seemed very incompetent if not clearly dishonest. Singh, for example.
"I want to apologise..." is not an apology. Is she saying I want to apologise but I'm not going to? Sounds like it to me. Why can't she say "I apologise..."
Good point :) Thanks for posting
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She would have gone home to her hubby and exploded about the bastards who dared to question her and she never made serious efforts but took a bonus
:)
How many of those responsible will face a criminal trial and prison? The inquiry is theatre to appease the masses. Laws are for the little people.
BATES must lead a public protest on the streets of london after this report demanding heads to roll. i hope there is a crowd funding for private prosecutions.
I would say precisely - none.
Idiots who write laws are for the ''little people'' plenty of wealthy characters end up in Jail!
Almost certainly never.
Yep, it's hard not to agree wtih you on this.
Thanks for posting.
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Thank you for your analysis. I felt that she tried to distance herself and played the ‘look what I did - pretty good hey’ card but your analysis brought so much more clarity and ‘understanding’ (very overused word during the inquiry - sorry).
Well said!
Her attitude is " how dare you question me about my complete incompetence and huge salary for doing nothing"
Thankyou for the 'timestamps' in the edits.
Andrew Parsons evidenced the cold, unethical manipulation of Lawyers(inc C.King and Roderic) priveledge and to support P.O.s version of Horizon truths by text omissions from and 'summarised' reports.
Many thanks for this. It's a nice summary of Parsons' testimony. p
Thanks for your insight, brilliant video. Perkins showed her clear disdain and the nepotism that exists in her life. At times, Perkins attitude towards Sir Wynn could be described as flirting.
Thanks so much for you kind comments. And, nice observation about Perkins :)
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Very good analysis Sir.
My tuppence worth:
2:15 Alice Perking "I have some understanding of what people have been through, and the ways, the different ways, in which their lives were wrecked over so many, many years"
I see this as translating to the time her self-entitled privileged son got caught selling some weed.
Alice, you have understanding of tiddly pat.
The apology was crass in the extreme.
The lawyers are representing the sub-postmasters. So for Alice, that meant business as usual - show them contempt.
Nicely summed up. Thank you :)
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Really worthwhile comment, much appreciated
Thanks so much for you lovely feedback
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I too watched the sessions and it was immediate her changes in attitude and posture. Oh you poor thing, been a long morning has it? For God's sake woman, people died, were incarcerated, lost everything due to _your_ failings and all you can do is moan about how _you_ are feeling. 'Sorry': so easy to say, impossible to fake. Ne'er mind, a week or two at the cottage in Provence or Tuscany will do the trick.
Yep... just shows how removed she is from it all.
Thanks for posting
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Thank you: a very worthwhile contribution.
Thanks for your encouraging feedback. Much appreciated.
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She simply swept the problem under the carpet.
I do not believe in her statement of apology.
By saying sorry for the suffering of those people, is almost passing it to one side...end of problem...
That is arrogance.
The bottom line is she knew and given the years in the PO...she clearly knew.
Whatever anyone says.
She is responsible.
She sat at home smiling and laughing with friends.. relaxed
Whilst the innocently convicted, sat and suffered behind bars...not laughing or smiling.
Searching for a reason as to why nobody believes them.
Sad...
l feel for people like those...they don't need it .
Yep, it's hard not to think so.
Thanks for posting.
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With great power comes great responsibility. Unfortunately, what we have seen with these senior POL executives is that with great power, there has been an abdication of responsibility. The higher you go, the less likely they are to acknowledge their mistakes or accept responsibility for the results.
The goons lower down the food chain in the Post Office (or those that I have seen so far giving evidence to the Inquiry) don't impress me more with their acceptance of responsibility nor any having empathy for those they persecuted. Some can't even seem to understand or take responsibility for that which they have signed off in their own witness statements, much less for what they actually did during the course of their "investigations" of the sub-postmasters/mistresses! At least Alice Perkins has sufficient respect for the proceedings to have come better prepared, and to actually listen intently to the questions. That may come over as arrogance to some. Perhaps that is fair criticism of her, but I can understand that it must be a difficult balancing act to demonstrate remorse for your own part in what is after all a much bigger corporate failure, whilst at the same time being conscious of the risk of self incrimination.
Yes, great point, well made.
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The damage done by these people to public confidence in government and government institutions, and also in the legal profession, which failed at every level, contributes to the fading of public trust in democracy and western society in general that has been happening for decades. The cost is incalculably enormous and is borne by all of us. Sir Alan Bates’ heroism can’t begin to redress these people’s iniquity. All of their apologies have been weak and unconvincing. What’s more everyone of them should have begged forgiveness from the SPMs and the entire country. None of them did.
Love these videos. I keep yelling “YES THIS!” at my iPad!
Thanks so much, and what a wonderful summing up of the damage too. Nicely done.
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The bottom line is that these people, all of them across the entire management machine, simply didn't value people as individuals enough to do the right thing. They JUST DON'T CARE!
Yep, I think you're right on this.'
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This is a person out of a Dickens novel.
Yes I thought that. You can just see her running a workhouse.
Fagin? She's got the looks and her boys could pick a pocket or two.
Well, she certainly picked a pocket or two :)
@@PaulDuckett Even Bill Sikes a terrible man,showed remorse ,
If you based a novel on this inquiry,people would say it wasn’t based on true facts as the characters weren’t human in nature as they showed no remorse for the victims.
'I've had a long day.' 🤨
Yep, the poor dear.... surprising that she didn't seem to think how that might be read by the public. Tone deaf!
@@PaulDuckett Dr Jekyll turned into Mrs Hyde
Thank you for taking the time to put into a succinct brief what I was trying to form in my head but was unable to articulate with such clarity. My biggest concern is that this is the one such event that has been made public, how many others are there that have not managed to surface but have had a similar impact on the affected employees and their families and friends?
Thanks so much. Yep, sadly I agree. I think we are only just scraping the surface. Also, I think part of the public anger comes from that space where people recognise this sort of thing happening in their own places of work. Perhaps no one in their experience went to jail, but they know of people who've bee sacked or emotionally crippled by management like that in POL.
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This is the first time I have had the patience to stay with your measured and rational approach, ( a style I would like to emulate, but which doesn’t sit easily with me). I shall be back. Thank you for your considered words.
Graet analysis. Thank you.
Alice "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I'M MARRIED TO?" Perkins is a highly-intelligent and malign individual who has been taught the art of 'spin'.
She spent all her time and evidence in telling us how she, and she alone, tried to do something about the situation. IMHO.
If you listen carefully. You can hear her sighing. The microphone picks it up x
Yes, I heard all her sighing and my hearing is very poor indeed.
This arrogant woman bears at least as much, if not more, blame for the scandal as Paula Vennells! It was she who disposed of Second Sight's services, thus preventing disclosure of the glitches in Horizon that they had identified and whose disclosure would have likely prevented many of the successful prosecutions of SPMs!
This was not a case of incompetence, but of deliberate suppression of relevant facts!
She bears the blame for most of the harm that was illegitimately heaped upon SPM!
Her apology is not, imo, that she is sorry for what was done to them, but that she is sorry for being exposed as the primary cause!
Exactly.
Fantastic breakdown of Mrs Perkins “Apology” Dr Paul, I thank you. I've watched most of the interviews so far, all batting off any involvement. However this dreadful woman is probably sat at home thinking she played her well rehearsed part in this drama so well. No she did not ! it was a difficult and painful watch of a cynical old woman with not one once of shame.
Excellent analysis. I was so angry watching her testimony and *apology* but could not have articulated the precise reasons why.
I was moved by your comment, at the end of the video, wnere you said "thats enough anger from me". The reason that the words moved me was tnat there is never any anger in your voice when you speak about those who are sat before the inqury....your speech is always calm and you deliver the story in an informative manner thats goes a long way to help everyone understand what these people are saying in their appearances before the inquiry...i am watching this from afar, in Australia, and much enjoy your work...every person in the UK has every right to be angry including you Paul...keep up the good work
Thanks so much for your kind words. Yep, we haev a right to angry and when it's moral anger, that's the fuel we need to change things. Am in Aus myself, I immigrated here 12 years ago. So, watching from afar, but feels strangely close to home ... robodebt!
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I don't know what she spent her bonuses on but it wasn't her hair.
I can't comment on that given I only go to the hairdressers once a year!
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I think the reason that these apologies are not well received is because they come at the start of a 2 or 3 day session where we find out that they absolutely knew about the bugs, errors and defects (or as the disgraced CEO's husband put it, anomalies) but continued to use their positions and their access to financing for lawyers, investigators and forensic accountants as well as their access to people well placed within government to destroy the SPMR's, regardless of what the evidence showed or what they themselves knew.
Excellent analysis.
Many thanks,
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Very insincere, just like the rest. I note that the Post Office still tries its, damnest to delay and minimise any liabilities due to those who were damaged.
Its just an exercise in covering their own collective arses.
Disgusting.
i agree.
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Great detailed analysis of Perkins' use of evasive, slippery language.
Totally get you and your analysis. I was a mental health nurse for over a decade and understand how people phrase things and behave. I have a Masters in Law so understand evidence and the legal system. You are spot on with your analysis.
I worked as a civil servant and social worker for many years. I am sure that both you and I have experienced the ‘management’ translated as uncaring and unprincipled riding roughshod over clients and professionals alike
The point being in today’s society good people are not cherished. Instead they try to use them.
Alice Perkins, wife of the former Labour Foreign Secretary and
War Criminal, Jack Mr Magoo Straw:
We are still waiting for His Apology.
["hand under chin" is not a good look Alice].
Yep, not a good look at all!
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I really did try to watch Alice Perkins when she was being questioned. I became so incensed by her attitude that I had to stop. I had been trying to gather my thoughts on quite what it was that made me so very angry. What you have said in this upload puts it perfectly. Well said and thank you. ❤
Calm and brilliant!! Thank you. I needed that as I can just find myself screaming at my computer as I watch this inquiry.
Great observations
Thansk so much for you lovely feedback. Much appreciated.
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Thanks Paul - very interesting and I am pleased to find your channel. I am amazed that with all of the ineffectual non-apology apologies out there, all of which (that I have seen) given in the passive voice, none of the participants from POL and their former legal teams has worked out quite how disingenuous they appear to those directly affected by POL's dreadful behaviour of the past 20 years, nor to the ordinary person looking on.
Empress Alice Dowager. Self denial and obnoxious till her last days. Remember how did Empress Dowager end...The public and police will vindicate ALL those who suffered and still sufffering
"Imperious" would seem to be her middle name. She's the worst!
Dowager ... perfect. Thank you!
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A very good analysis
Thanks so much for your encouragement. Much appreciated.
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Both thew Post Office Senior and Local managements have bee feral for many years, unfair disapplinary practices, failed health and safety practices. i can even recall a case where an employee won a financial settllement in a health and safety case, the P.O. appealed, the case went back to court and the amount awarded was doubled by the judge. This is what happens when an organisation like the P.O is allowed to continue unchecked, bucket loads of public money wasted, and lawyers laughing all the way to the bank. It's happening now. Sunak has set aside more public money for compensation when it is Fujitsu (strangely quiet) who should be footing the bill. They sold a system under false pretences paid for by public money, and then kept hidden the fact that it was remotely accessible from an external source, and did not disclose a directory full of known faults until their arm was twisted. The Post Office have continued to persecute Postmasters even when they knew the system was faulty. The Postmasters deserve justice for this but, lets not ever forget, or belittle the part played by Fujitsu and it's software that brought all this about.
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Thanks so much for your posting. You've made a great observations here. Much appreciated.
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The Albert Speer defence. I didn't know but I should have known.
Yep, interesting parallel
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This presenter has summed up exactly what I have been thinking every time I hear the culprits apologize for what they put the post master's through. They have all tried to evade their culpability by blaming the Post office for what they all did. Absolute cowardly and truly lacking of any sense of blame.
nicely put.
thanks for posting
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Thank you so much for doing this!
Thank you for your excellent submission to this channel. Your conclusions were spot on.
Thanks so much. I really appreciate you encouragement. It really helps me to keep going.
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Terrific analysis! AP's opening sentences had a really nasty edge. Almost as if she felt she was apologising to lesser beings. Ones who might not 'understand her apology.
Dr. Paul, please take a look at George Thomson's testimony, which was delivered on 21 June. His attitude is utterly undeliverable, and his sheer contempt for the Inquiry is obvious and ridiculous.
Interesting analyses. One question I though to have heard that her current job was "Professor of Company governance" at a renounced University, is that true?
Thanks for you lovely feedback. Not heard that she has a university appointment. So, can't comment.Also, haven't been able to find anything about her current appointments. Good question though ... would be nice to know what she is up to at the moment.
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"That's enough anger from me". If that was anger, it was very eloquently conveyed! Excellent analysis.
It's always "The Post Office" which has done something bad, never the person being questioned, the effort they put into detaching themselves from their callous and disinterested performance is detestable.
Thank you for a great video!
Dr Paul Duckett you have done a superb job in this video. You provide a comprehensive exemplar of discourse analysis. Thank you for doing it
That perfunctory, insincere and weaselly apology only made her and her co-conspirators look more loathsome and self-serving. She needs to change her attitude as she'll find a jail cell a lot more tiresome than being questioned by a board of enquiry.
This is one of the most arrogant individuals who were in charge of the Post Office! She claimed that the Sub Post Officers suffered at the hands of the Post Office. She was not taking responsibility for the part she and all the others at the top of the PO played in that suffering! She ,Vennells and the others were the ones wholey responsible for the continued charging and fining them for nothing they had done wrong!
I would have liked this video many more times if it was an option. Thank you for your work. I'm sure the whole of the UK and humanity appreciates it
Another insightful video; thank you.
Horrible evidence from her. Brilliant take on it by you!
Thank you :)
Alice Perkins is the wife of former Home Secretary, Jack Straw: a man whose armed Government Chauffeur tore rubber on the M5 in the year 2000, but who did not face charges. Perhaps a 'sense of entitlement' reigns within the Straw/Perkins family. This is certainly the impression to be garnered from the comments below mine. Incidentally, I have noticed that Counsel for the individual Postmasters (as opposed to Counsel to the Enquiry) do seem to relish the need to be far less polite to these Post Office 'witnesses', than, for example, Jason Beer, KC. The UK Government and its Agencies seem to be entirely populated with people who feel they are "born to rule over us". How wonderful it was, therefore, to learn that our Sovereign Lord has knighted Alan and Suzanne Bates. They deserve it. Now, can that same King REMOVE the Garter Knighthoods of BLAIR and MAJOR?
Insightful analysis!
Great breakdown of the psychology of the apology. They could all be summed up with : i did nothing as i really didnt accept how horrible we had become and i could never admit that.
Thanks very much for this.
She treated the Lawyers for the subpostmasters with contempt. She seemed to view them as somehow beneath her, and she couldn't see why she had to answer their questions. "Some understanding"-what nonsense. And it's clear that she made no attempt to get to the truth of what was going on. Indeed, she aided in the cover-up.
I watched the whole enquiry session on her, she was anything but sincere from start to finish. She thinks she is better than the others. The attitude from her is like 'it happened to you, its too bad !'
Her husband's former employee was taken on simply to stuff the victims.
Thanks for posting :)
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Very inciteful. Thanks.
Thanks for this great insight.
Many thanks :)
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Brilliantly forensic analysis
An insincere apology is even worse than NO apology. She did NOT sound sincere. She did NOT sound contrite. She does NOT accept how badly she failed the Post Office employees who she destroyed. She was in denial at what she DID do and in what way she did FAIL.
She was part of the group that HUMILIATED, DESTROYED and HEAPED SHAME on postal staff who did NOT deserve the harm and humiliation she inflicted on so many.
Excellent + psychologicallly helpful. Subscribed.
14mins:06secs :- She said she i)pushed for an investigation into the Horizon System ii)pushed to extend the scope of that investigation iii) she said she reviewed the Post Offfices policy on prosecutions . Righty-ho then Show Me The Evidence that you did this missus .There’ll be a paper or electronic trail of correspondence for i. ii. and iii …It’ll be mentioned in the Board Minutes for a start about your misgivings -who you wrote and emailed and if you reviewed the prosecution policy you would have been expected to inform the Board of what you were going to do and subsequently report on your findings to the Board ..why has she not presented those things as evidence to the inquiry .If she was that “concerned “surely she would have got in touch with MP James Arbuthnot in the Four Bloody Years she sat on her derrière doing nothing to rock the boat as Chair of POL .What has she done since then (2015) to further the SPM’s cause ….Nothing ! What a useless self serving lying waste of Oxygen ! rant over
Great points. Thanks for posting,
p
Dear Paul
Spot on!
Alice Perkins came across to me as an aloof, disinterested public girls only school head mistress, annoyed that she had to come and be subjected to awkward questions about her conduct while Chair of the PO Board for a critical 4 years when she could have put a stop to the pain and suffering being caused to so many by so few in the senior eschalons of the POL.
Her disdain for the KCs / counsel representing the sub postmasters was palpable and typical of a person who has lived her life as a privileged prat in this continuing Class ridden society we call Great Britain. In Oz as young kids, we grow up learning to MAKE our place in life. In Britain even today, young kids grow up learning to "KNOW their place in life!".
Alice Perkins represents the very epitome of what is still so WRONG in the class ridden society of oh so poor Britain (and getting poorer by the minute) of today! We will only change this ingrained embedded attititude by having the GUTS and STAMINA to not only CALL it out but STAMP it out!!!!
Oh well, as long as she said “sorry”, I’m sure everybody can go home now and forget all about it.
Thank you for this in depth analysis of her apology. The "apologies" that have been offered during the POL scandal are predictably vague and deflecting, and are getting tiresome and ingenuous. As I watch the ongoing testimonies in this scandal, I continually see the destain of those in power (the "haves") for those who do the day to day work (the "have nots"), not recognizing the value and importance of all humanity. On a personal note, your analysis of an apology was a good object lesson for me, as I consider how I might best provide apologies of value and sincerity when I screw up. Thanks.
Dr Paul, I applaud your analysis. I found it insightful and revealing. The section where she claimed to have some understanding was very telling. No one can ever understand what someone else has gone through. It may be possible to imagine or relate on some level. That spoke miles towards how detached she is from the real suffering of all the people affected by the post office. It also occurred to me how must those people in communities where the subpostmasters and mistresses, and their families were shunned due to the convictions, feel now? Many unwittingly caused harm by turning their back on honest people who were victims of a bullying corporate that displayed nothing but psychopathic tendancies. How many of them feel awful now, struggle to balance their actions and carry a destructive guilt? The sincerity of Alice Perkins apology was very, very much lacking and void of any real understanding in my opinion. There was a real sense of trying to dodge any implication of responsibility and in effect any prosecution. It was disturbing that she thought she had done no wrong. I send my very best wishes to all affected. Nothing can put things right but justice would help to start healing the deep wounds. Many blessings x
Been following all the clips from the post office find it so interesting , I would love to here what you think of the recent inquiry on George Thompson .
Am already working on it! Hopefully will have a video ready by the end of the week. At the moment ... it's not looking like I am going to be too complementary towards him! :) p
Paul, you're not alone in feeling angry. With each day of the inquiry and further revelations it's hard not to be angry. The irony of the conspiracy of cover up to ostensibly 'protect' the brand has backfired spectacularly, and I believe their first priority was to protect themselves. This seems to follow the pattern of other institutional coverups, almost as if there is a playbook that they are following. When several people are caught in wrongdoing they naturally start to turn on each other and minimise their own role by blaming others. Your forensic picking up of the language used by Perkins in her ersatz apology is compelling. I expect none of the inquiry counsels are fooled by these 'apologies'.
Yep, I agree. Knowing the anger is shared, does turn into a more positive emotion!
Thanks so much for posting.
p
Another great analysis, especially spotting the sandwiching of her tiny 4 years at the top between two bigger things to make it all seem like she was simply a thwarted hero. I think you have proved not only that it was carefully crafted with legal advice, but that it wasn't actually an apology of any sorts anyway nor intended to be so.
Articulate and pretty forensic analysis imo. Agree entirely.Thanks for posting. Liked and subscribed! 👏
Thanks so much :)
p
Sadly, people who reach senior positions in institutions are very often not particularly pleasant people. A good example of this would be the NHS, whereby senior managers are rarely caring people, despite labelling themselves as Health CARE Trusts. Life nowadays is often about PR spin, rather than reality.
How often have we all heard the standard disaster statement “a full and thorough investigation/enquiry will be carried out, and lessons will be learned.” This effectively diffuses any such disaster and moves the focus away from greed and incompetence by the people at the top who are handsomely paid to do their jobs properly.
Obviously, “lessons will be learned” - until the next time it happens, which it undoubtedly will.
Thanks for posting. Yep, the wrong people move up the chain or command and the wrong people get pushed down it.
p
Thank you, Paul, for your inciteful analysis of Alice Perkins’ testimony. I tried to watch this odius and arrogant woman but could not stomach it. I agree with everything you have to say, and I look forward to future video analysis of the inquiry.
A fascinating analysis of the very modern way words are now used. I'm sure it has occurred to you that the effortless mendacity of people like this woman is endemic throughout the manager class. My landlord does it, my GP surgery does it, my phone company does it. The media is treating the scandal as an appalling one-off whereas the real lesson is that injustice is everywhere. The same will be done when the Countess of Chester enquiry happens. I am a new subscriber.
Yep, systemic is the word, I think :)