Mr Bates Vs The Post Office star Julie urges viewers to demand compensation
Mr Bates Vs The Post Office star Julie Hesmondhalgh has called on the outraged viewers of the ITV drama to write to their MP and demand compensation for the victims.
Her plea is passed on from Alan Bates, the heroic sub-postmaster who has dedicated more than 20 years to fighting for the truth.And it came amid calls for new laws to be brought in allowing those who are responsible for the scandal to be brought to justice.
Former Coronation Street favourite Julie, 53, who played Alan Bates’ wife Suzanne, said she had been blown away by the anger generated by the ITV drama. “Completely overwhelmed by the response to Mr Bates Vs The Post Office,” she declared. “It’s more than any of us dared hope that it would move the campaign along, but sometimes drama can do that. And now - justice for the thousands affected.”
She added that Pride of Britain winner Alan has asked for those moved by the series to help his campaign to get ALL the money back, plus adequate compensation for the decades of hurt. “For those asking ‘what can we do now?’ The wonderful Alan Bates is asking people to write to their MP calling for compensation for the victims.” Carol Vorderman, who handed Alan his Mirror honour on stage last year, said that it was time to make changes to the British legal system so the likes of Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells could be held to account. “We understand so much more now about the depths to which those who govern will sink in order to protect only themselves,” she said.
(Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)“Paula Vennells and all others responsible should be brought to justice and if there aren’t laws to do so, then they need to be created.”
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In the final instalment, largely set in the courtroom, viewers saw the bittersweet victory in which Alan Bates and his supporters proved that they were innocent and victims of a Post Office and Futitsu cover-up. They won £58m but once the legal fees had been paid there was £12m left - and shared between the 555 it amounted to around £20,000.
Will Mellor, as Lee Castleton who was bankrupted after being ordered to pay hundreds of thousands in legal costs, summed up the situation by saying sadly: “That’s not even going to touch the sides. It’s never going to end, is it?”
As the show ended. Richard Coles asked why computer company Fujitsu, which supplied the faulty Horizon system which caused the false accounting problems, continued to be awarded government contracts when no one had ever been held to account over the failings. “Is it simply too big to fail?” he asked. “Are there no commercial competitors? Is every contract awarded to the lowest bid tendered?”
In the final episode, Fujitsu said it was “fully committed” to supporting the forthcoming Public Inquiry “in order to understand what happened and to learn from it”. The drama showed that the company had gone to great lengths to hide what had happened - having originally told the hundreds of Post Office workers contacting the helpline that they were alone in experiencing problems.
As plaudits for the writer Gwyneth Hughes and the cast, led by Toby Jones, poured in, Amit Shah, who played desperate husband Jas Singh, said that the real praise was not for them. “Mr Bates Vs the Post Office is not about the actors or the creatives or the producers but about the victims,” he said. “I admire them all for their strength. Thank you to the real Sam and Jas for sharing their story.”
Shaun Dooley, who played post office worker and union member Michael Rudkin, thanked him and the viewers, saying: “An honour to briefly fight in your corner sir. And a thank you to everyone that’s contacted me. Your anger and disgust at what has happened to these innocent people is so welcome.”
One woman said her late aunt had been a victim of the scandal but her family had not really understood what she’d been through. Now they plan to fight for her name to be cleared. Sara Nisbet said: “Until this series my family were unaware, despite my aunt being a victim and convicted.” She said this had “devastated” her aunt and added: “My cousins are now looking into getting her conviction overturned posthumously.”
There were also calls for Alan Bates to receive a knighthood, although he has already turned down an OBE, on the grounds that the vast majority of the 555 who took part in the court case have still not been paid back what they lost or received anywhere near adequate compensation.
The Post Office Vs Mr Bates writer Gwyneth Hughes (Reach Commissioned)Labour MP Kevan Jones has been asking for Vennells to be stripped of her CBE for many years now - and is still awaiting a response.
At a Bafta screening of the drama, Toby Jones said Alan Bates did not think of himself as a hero. “Alan is an extraordinary man who presents as one of the most ordinary people you can meet,” he explained. “When you come to play someone like that, I needed to find out who he was, what made him do this extraordinary thing and unite hundreds of people in one place and take on the might of the corporate post office. And that was a great shock because he felt that he himself wasn't worthy of being heroic because there was nothing unusual about him.”
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Laughing that he wasn’t very helpful Toby, 57, instead spoke to those who knew him. “They said Alan Bates was one of the smartest and most inspirational people they'd ever met.”
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