The Human Risk Podcast15 Tammi 2022

Nick Wallis on The Great Post Office Scandal

How did the Post Office deliver one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history?

My guest Nick Wallis, is a journalist and radio presenter who has written a book called The Great Post Office Scandal which explains how a billion pound IT system, unleashed an enormous legal, ethical and political scandal.

As Nick explains on the show, hundreds of sub-postmasters were alleged to have engaged in theft, false accounting and/or fraud and were taken to court by the Post Office. This resulted in criminal convictions, imprisonment, loss of reputation and livelihood, bankruptcy, divorce, and even suicide amongst those involved.

It subsequently transpired that it wasn’t people that were at fault, but rather the billion point IT system that the Post Office had installed as part of a modernisation program. In our discussion, we explore how the Scandal occurred, Nick’s experience in investigating it and what lessons we can learn.

This is a tale of appalling human decision-making with serious consequences. It’s about as human risk-relevant as it gets.

To learn more about the subjects we discussed on the show:

Nick’s website - https://www.nickwallis.com/

Nick’s book The Great Post Office Scandal - https://bathpublishing.com/products/the-great-post-office-scandal

The BBC Radio 4 podcast - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jf7j

BBC Radio Surrey - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_surrey

The BBC Radio Surrey Twitter account - https://twitter.com/BBCSurrey

The Justice for Subpostmaster’s Alliance - https://www.jfsa.org.uk/
 BBC TV’s Inside Out South program featuring Nick - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ2FLuFVGMg

The Wikipedia page for the Post Office Scandal with links to court hearings and other relevant documents - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Post_Office_scandal

Infected Blood Scandal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contaminated_blood_scandal_in_the_United_Kingdom#Background

Windrush Scandal - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windrush_scandal

Hillsborough Disaster - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster

Professor Richard Morehead - https://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/law/staff/moorhead/

Darren Jones MP on Artificial Intelligence - https://thebristolcable.org/2018/06/artificial-intelligence-robots-and-the-future-of-society-interview-with-darren-jones/

The Horizon Scandal Fund - https://www.horizonscandalfund.org/

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(368)

Kristina Stiles on Burn Prevention

Why did an advertisement for coffee prompt a nurse to contact the company to ask them to withdraw it? The answer is that the nurse in question has 20 years experience in burn care, and the advertiseme...

5 Touko 20231h 7min

Jenny-Joy Kreindl on Leadership Communication

What’s the difference between a leader that communicates well and one that doesn’t?We’ve all seen examples of leaders who are terrible at communicating — whether it’s politicians that can’t find the r...

29 Huhti 20231h 7min

Dr Kirsty Sedgman on Being Unreasonable

What do we mean when we say that someone is being unreasonable? On the face of it, the person we're describing has either broken a rule or a social norm. But what are we basing that on?My guest Dr Kir...

22 Huhti 20231h 3min

Professor Magda Osman on Misinformation

Why might seeking to ban misinformation, be a bad idea? On this episode, I’m returning to a subject I’ve looked at before, with a guest I’ve spoken to before!She’s Professor Magda Osman — if you’ve no...

16 Huhti 20231h 3min

Dr Siegfried Hoenle on Positive Leadership

In times of uncertainty and change, what do we need from leaders? On this episode, I'm sepaking to Dr Siegfried Hoenle, a leadership expert whose approach to leadership is relentlessly positive.Siegfr...

2 Huhti 20231h 12min

Professor Magda Osman on Compliance, Coercion & Competence

What do Compliance, Coercion and Competence have to do with each other? They’re all subjects I talk about with my guest Professor Magda Osman who manages to weave all three topics together.Compliance ...

24 Maalis 20231h 3min

Chris Houghton on Circularity

What is circularity, and why does it matter? As we seek to manage the climate emergency, companies are being challenged to play their part in being more sustainable. Which is where the concept of circ...

14 Maalis 202349min

Nick Chatrath on AI & Leadership

As we enter the Age of Artificial Intelligence, what role will humans play? On this episode, I'm speaking to leadership expert and coach Nick Chatrath. He's a former colleague of mine and the author o...

3 Maalis 202354min