The allegation that the Post Office was pressured by civil servants to delay compensation payments arising from the Horizon scandal carries the ring of truth and denials by the Business Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, were a case of protesting too much.

She only came into the job last year and knows no more than she has been told. I don’t think the aggrieved chairman of the Post Office, Henry Staunton, suggested that she personally gave such an order. She should be more selective in what she becomes outraged about.

Anyway, Mr Staunton’s allegations are a sideshow; albeit an entertaining one. The hard fact which Ms Badenoch cannot contest is that the pace of compensation payments, based on convictions overturned, continues to be scandalously slow.

The cast of Mr Bates (Image: free)

Week by week, there are reports around the UK of postmasters who have died, often in tragic circumstances, without their names having been cleared, far less compensation paid. In spite of that, and all the outrage sparked by Mr Bates vs the Post Office, the pace of redress scarcely moves.

That scandal must also be addressed in Scotland with some sense of urgency rather than at the preferred pace of a legal system which prioritises its own interests and reputation. Pressure for that to happen should intensify in the light of yesterday’s announcement of fast track legislation in England and Wales to overturn convictions.

When she appeared before MSPs on January 16th, the Lord Advocate, Dorothy Bain, scarcely gave the impression of a woman in a hurry to remove the stains of false allegations or open the door to........

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