The Post Office scandal-What are the deeper lessons?

Rock & Roll Politics with Steve Richards

Podmasters

Society & Culture, News, Politics

4.6 • 825 Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The indifference of ministers in the coalition government to the Post Office scandal is becoming a big story. But the indifference was not accidental, it was a deliberate act and part of a wider culture that is still pervasive: The state should step back and give 'operational independence' to non-elected figures. Steve Richards assesses how when things go wrong, as they often do in this culture, ministers become responsible, and whether these vague lines of accountability are part of the reason why nothing works in the UK. Plus we hear brilliant questions on Labour's election slogan and much more. Support Rock & Roll Politics on Patreon and get exclusive benefits including bonus episodes and exclusive merchandise only available to subscribers: https://www.patreon.com/RockNRollPolitics Buy Steve’s book Turning Points: Crisis and Change in Modern Britain, from 1945 to Truss through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Tickets for the next Rock n Roll Politics Live: Kings Place on 26th March 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to rock and roll politics, the podcast with me, Steve Richards.
0:12.8	Thanks so much for tuning in, wherever you are in the UK and the rest of the world.
0:18.1	And we've got a lot to cram in in this, our first full podcast since
0:22.5	the turn of the year. Once again, I hope you all had a great Christmas New Year period.
0:28.3	For those of you who didn't listen to the one that was out last week, if so, where were you?
0:33.5	Start subscribing so you get these automatically. anyway welcome welcome welcome as we say when
0:39.9	we do live shows on that front i'm taking a kind of break from live shows for a bit but one of
0:47.7	the ones that will be in march is the next one at king's place it's on on March the 26th. And given the number of emails
0:56.4	triggered by the last live show, the Christmas special, you've got to come along. So please
1:01.7	do book the link for booking that is in the blurb for the podcast. And it's there already
1:08.9	on the King's Place website for you to get tickets for that
1:12.7	where it would be after the budget and all the other kind of things that will be building up
1:18.9	and whirling around at that particular time. If it's okay with all of you before we get to
1:26.5	your brilliant points and questions,
1:29.9	many of which were triggered by the last live show,
1:33.3	just one kind of apology before I move on to my reflections and then your points.
1:40.3	Thank you those who asked for signed labels who are buying my book, Turning Points, as a Christmas present.
1:50.0	I've got to apologise to you all because I've realised that my handwriting is beyond appalling.
1:57.5	I knew it was appalling, but I didn't realize it was beyond appalling. But a friend of
2:01.8	mine who I sent a Christmas card to put the card on her Facebook page and said, who sent this
2:09.1	card? I can't read it. I've got no idea who it was. And she got kind of messages in response to
2:16.8	the photo of the card with my signature,
	...

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