In your editorial on Paula Vennells (May 24), one of the key themes of the Post Office Horizon IT investigation was that there was no evidence of competence, curiosity or compassion in the leadership team; is a theme frequently seen in public opinion surveys in recent years. In the UK, it is clear that leadership teams are infected, consisting of people who are there not because of any qualifications or merits, but because they are just the kind of people they are.
The hallmarks of this group of privately educated, overpaid, and arrogant people are their indifference to the real-life consequences of their actions for ordinary hard-working people, their inherent belief that their kind, unlike little people, are trustworthy and believable, and their bafflement at the idea that they should be held accountable.
We see this happen again and again, whether in politics or the business world. The only way to prevent this is to ensure that it is impossible for ordinary folk to live completely separate lives, completely removed from their reality, so that this them and us mentality can begin to erode. It starts with the closure of private schools.
David Young
Rattlesden, Suffolk
• Marina Hyde rightly concludes about the Post Office scandal that there is a class of people sent to prison and, conversely, a class of people getting directorships (Into Britain’s angry pulpit steps, Reverend Vennells running the Post Office – explaining why he sends honest people to prison, 17 May) .
The indictment may be taken further. The class prejudices involved are so great that one class unthinkingly assumes that hundreds of its employees—little people—are dishonest. Without these biases, even the most casual intelligence would realize that the extraordinarily high rate of theft claims is statistically improbable.
Margaret Pelling
Oxford
• Marina Hyde seems surprised to discover that one class of people is going to prison and another class is taking over as rulers. If this were not the case, the prison population would be representative of the country as a whole. Instead, it is predominantly aimed at people from broken families, poorly educated people and those with mental health problems. And we seem happy to fuel this inequality by sending record numbers into overcrowded prisons. Meanwhile, those who are doing real harm to society, especially the two recent prime ministers, continue to cream this situation.
Peter Coltman
Leeds
• I have become concerned about the failed memories that frequently emerge in current large-scale public inquiries. I constantly hear “I don’t remember”, “I wasn’t aware”, “I can’t remember”, “I might remember”, contributing to the common failure to remember the instruction not to delete WhatsApp messages. Is it time for annual cognitive impairment testing of senior members of government and the civil service, and senior executives of companies such as the Post Office? Perhaps Atos, the favorite of the former Department for Work and Pensions, could be persuaded to go out to tender and improve the quality of management in these bodies through its meticulous blending.
Doctor Alan Leg
Canterbury
• Marina Hyde (Rev Vennells cried but couldn’t remember much about sending innocent sub-postmasters to prison. All that long ago, May 22) rightly points out how Paula Vennells was humiliated by the word “sorry”. There was a time when it seemed like the hardest word to say because of the potential loss of reputation. It is now implemented very easily and has no effect or meaning. Perhaps it should be banned from public inquiries and replaced with “guilty.”
Rod Price
Mollington, Oxfordshire
• Paula Vennells’ “I was too trusting” claim echoes Prince Andrew saying he continued associating with Jeffrey Epstein because he was “too honourable”. I would treat both claims with the same skepticism as the claim that the main flaw of a job applicant is excessive diligence.
Bill Bradbury
Bolton
• An ordained priest might be expected to be familiar with the Ten Commandments. So what happened to “You shall not bear false witness…” then?
Sue Barnard
HaleGreater Manchester
• What was more surprising than Paula Vennells’ blaming others and insincere apologies, even while she was in charge of the Post Office, was that she had been working solely on this investigation for three years, and that it was a full-time job. A job for him last year. And after all that, apparently, that was the best she could do to provide evidence. With this level of competence, it’s no wonder the scandal was committed.
Doctor Richard Carter
Putney, London
• “I don’t remember this” has two meanings. First, I have no memory of it; The other is that I can’t allow myself to remember it.
bass hardy
Ripon, North Yorkshire