The Infected Blood Inquiry, into the scandal which saw 30,000 people contract HIV or Hepatitis C., was described a ‘day of shame for the British state’ by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday. Here, Carlos Alba urges us not to forget the victims of the Post Office scandal which saw a similar systemic failure by the authorities

As a piece of theatre, the Post Office scandal has never failed to deliver on what Aristotle referred to as the audience’s “dramatic expectations”.

For the father of poetic theory, tragedies depict people who are better than we are, while comedies represent those who are worse.

This week the scandal reaches its denouement, with the appearance at the public inquiry of Paula Vennells, the former chief executive of the Post Office, upon whose watch more than 1,100 postmasters were wrongly accused of theft and false accounting.

Despite being informed years earlier about potential issues with the organisation’s Horizon IT system, Ms Vennells chose to contest the postmasters in court.

More than 900 employees were prosecuted (Image: free)

As a result, more than 900 employees were, over 15 years, prosecuted. Of those, 96 have had wrongful convictions overturned, with more to follow; many others had their lives ruined by bankruptcy and public disgrace. The scandal has so far cost UK taxpayers well over £1bn.

Every tragedy has its anti-hero and the postmasters – and millions of people in this country who are emotionally invested in this story – believe it to be her.

As she takes her seat in Aldwych House in London for the first time today, they will want to know if Ms Vennells is, in Aristotelian terms, noble but flawed or........

© Herald Scotland