well ... it's the royal mail which happens to be identical to the royal mail from the post office scandal. that's about the reassurance you got to expect.
The Royal Mail and the Post Office are not the same thing! They are completely separate businesses. The Fujitsu/sub-post master scandal has nothing to do with the Royal Mail.
There is a good argument against 2. - it means people the CPS do not want to prosecute become above the law. Private prosecutions are a mechanism for prosecuting people the establishment does not want to prosecute.
The CPS can already stop a particular private prosecution - take it over and then drop it.
I agree with 1. The Royal Mail is a de facto monopoly for sending letters (less so for parcels).
The article credits a docuseries I've never heard of for making this a widely known issue:
> A four-part television drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, was broadcast on ITV in January 2024, after which the scandal became a major news story and political issue.
I swear I read some long form journalism on this issue years ago. Anyone know what I might have found? For the Brits who have previously heard of this scandal, did you know about it prior to January of this year?
>For the Brits who have previously heard of this scandal, did you know about it prior to January of this year?
Yes, I've been aware of it for about 10+ years, it's been covered on-and-off in the mainstream media for years. I think the (excellent) ITV series was well-timed to coincide with the current investigations and has improved understanding of the industrial scale of the injustice.
Thinking about all the mistreated sub-postmasters and mistresses and how for some of them it ended, ruined, or dominated their lives is heartbreaking. To be honest, even just thinking about those shunned by their communities and neighbours because everyone was told they were criminals is awful, never mind the lives cut short.
I do hope that now there is such clear evidence of the injustices available that people can be compensated properly and have their reputations restored.
>A seventh postmaster, Alan Bates, refused to sign his weekly accounts, saying it would have made him liable for any losses. He has called for a public inquiry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal