Best bits: Alan Bates lifts the lid on Post Office cover-up of Horizon scandal in Inquiry 

Corporate management culture against the “little people”. Obviously they hadn’t reckoned on dealing with someone of substance like Alan Bates. The man’s a national hero.

Some people from the post office need to face jail time. Nothing else would be justice.

The country is in debt to this man for his bravery. And the sooner the police investigate the sooner people should be protected

Over 20 years fighting and suffering. 1 man bringing many together to take on all in his way.What a truly incredible, humble, warrior of a man with utter integrity. A man that is rare, that is of principle, morality and of standards that few at the very top of society display and should learn from Alan. Alan you are a hero and may the Gods give you the strength to see this through so that the wrong doers are accountable and receive the correct punishment fir their dishonourable and abhoric behaviour.

The levels of malicious intent revealed towards the sub postmasters from the Post Office "partners" just keeps growing and growing

One law for the rich and powerful and one for the poor, until Alan Bates came and gave them a lesson in honesty and respect.

What superb prime minister Alan Bates would make - a calm, ethical guy with a strong moral backbone. Something sadly lacking in Parliament nowadays.....

The only person NOT being paid to be in that enquiry room is the very person who instigated them all being there earning millions and he STILL hasn’t been paid out 20 years later !!!!

I have to wonder why the Inquiry needs to continue. Everything has been proved. Fujitsu, Government, Post Office proven liars. Why not call a halt and just give justice and money to the wronged parties? Take the money from the shareholders and Fujitsu. No more tax payers money to be spent on this. Alan Bates is a hero

Alan Bates deserves a substantial reward an compensation for his loss and subsequent work in seeking justice. Unfortunately the hierarchy of Post Office will be more likely to go to the House of Lords rather than their rightful prison cell. It's just the way this current government work unfortunately.

Jason Beer has so much respect for Alan Bates in such stark contrast to his contempt for the pathetic, squirming PO witnesses.

I don't believe in the honours system in our country, actors, celebrities, politicians, civil servants, sports people, it is cringe worthy the lot of them. Alan Bates should be awarded the highest award possible, he is a hero, if he were to be awarded anything it would be posthumously, because it has a lot of time yet to be dragged out and obfuscated. He would proberbly tell them to stick it up their arse. HERO

Jail required for the PO and Fujitsu bigwigs who knew the Horizon system was flawed, yet still pushed relentlessly to ruin peoples lives.

The post office letter is insinuating that the problem was that Mr Bates was too stupid to operate Horizon. Ironic that they said this about a man who projects intelligence so strongly.

These poor people went through hell, whilst the post office bosses got huge bonuses. Fair play to Alan and the others for sticking it out, and credit to ITV for brining the scandal to light.

house of lords an knighthood for mr Bates. Also massive state compensation for him and all . Vennel needs to face serious time inside and repaying of her salary and bonuses.

This is David versus Goliath and right now there’s a large stone flying through the air moving very quickly and directly towards Goliath’s forehead.

Alan Bates deserves a very substantial monetary reward, let’s say 10 times the total amount Paula Vennells received during her years at the post office.

We need to see Post Office executives and their lying lawyers and investigators serving jail time for this and heavy compensation for their victims and the families of lost victims.

I've watched the whole inquiry today and Alan Bates is a formidable and most impressive man. He would make me proud to be British if it wasn't for the fact the Post Office (or P Off for short) is also British.

Fascinating. Go Mr Bates.

This man's main advantage in this is that he presents as calm, organised, thorough and logical. Not raving or illogical.

At last a plausible and competent witness - after all the "ducking and weaving" displayed by PO witnesses in earlier hearings. Quite horrifying to see how the P.O. dodged the issues and prevaricated on every possible occasion, instead of answering the perfectly valid questions put to them. Those responsible really should be locked up (and the key thrown away).

The only reason he wasn't charged is that Mr. Bates refused to sign off on the accounting, I just wish the rest of the Sub-Postmasters and Mistresses had done the same.

Don't forget that this whole saga was all about "protecting the brand". There is a whole industry out there of lawyers and PR consultants whoes sole job is put the best light on dodgy companies and political regimes. This is what happened at the Post Office.

This has opened a can of worms, the king needs to Knight this man, and this country is rotten to the core , greed has taken hold , well done mr bates 👍🇬🇧

A better day at work for Mr Beer, talking to a witness with a memory and a heart.

If Alan was employed by the PO at head office none of this would have happened

The lawyers working for the Post Office should be investigated as well!

Sadly some employees commited suicide. RIP😢

Sir Alan Bates, for his services to the truth and uncovering of Corporate lies

Id say he used the most appropriate phrase to describe the Post Office investigators when he called them THUGS IN SUITS!

I thoroughly the most significant thing that Alan B said was that he identified that the contract between POL & SPMs said that SPMs were required to repay shortages that SPMs were responsible for, and AB refused to repay the losses because he contended that far from being responsible, in fact it was the Horizon system that was responsible for the losses. Which has ultimately been shown to be the case! None of the other SPMs tried this tactic.

Politicians in power responsible for these post office policies should be in prison for whey they did

Just need the PPE scandal now out in the open

That has always been the PO answer "we carry the Royal Mail and we can do anything we like to ensure this". They have always considered themselves to be above the law because they carry ("THE ROYAL MAIL") and nothing they do will ever make them follow the LAW OF THE LAND.

BLAIR was told before it was rolled out, that it was not ready

This scandal CLEARLY demonstrates the very LOW-CALIBRE of ‘management’ both within the ‘public’ sector and the privatised utilities!

A calm unassuming man who had the internal fortitude to say 'no' when he knew something was fundamentally wrong, Those career politicians who sit ideally by in the house of commons year on year towing the party line, and following the party whip all in the hope that it will get them '4 more years' should look at this man and then have a good look inside themselves...

As a child growing up in the 60's and 70's I'd always thought workers' unions were there to support the workers but in this case the Union seemed to be taking the part of the post office. Mr. Bates has shone through all this as a man of honour, honesty and integrity. I've wondered why, after many years of loyal, trouble free service, these post masters and post mistresses were suddenly deemed to be criminals and this after a new system had been it in place. Surely that should have rung alarm bells that something was wrong with it. It's unfathomable that those in charge of the post office should have heaped such misery upon these 'partners' when they knew there was something going wrong. The power of the organisation seems to have gone to their heads. Those in charge have now ruined any respect the public had for the P. O. Who would want to take on running a post office now? The damage is very deep.

Mr Bates is an incredible witness, I hope he sees justice

Alan Bates giving evidence is clear decisive well spoken and confident. Unlike almost every other witness previously seated in this inquiry.. except for the arrogant legal smart arsery of the KC witness I’ve seen. Quite the contrast.. hmmm

Alan seems to be wearing a frustration and anger resistance +1000 shirt. So present and articulate despite the immense and constant nonesense and dishonesty around him. I really admire him. He is a true role model for me.

Set up a go fund me Mr Bates. My family is ready to contribute, time for the thugs to go to jail.

When i saw the advertisement for Mr bates vs the post office. The first thing i said was this will set the wheels in motion. I find it so hard to believe that no newspapers covered this properly. Without thie series and Alan who has been fighting for years to get justice for the little people, it would have been yet again swept under the carpet. Get the people who are guilty and have known from day one, that the system was faulty and they actually changed the figures themselves and put them in jail. People who were innocent were sent to jail, now send the guilty ones. Please don't keep saying it's compensation because it's not it's money they paid back to the PO that wasn't rightful theirs. These little people have been through enough.

What a man? Straight talker, no bullshit, just gets the job done. There are actually plenty of good people like this in this country, but not a single one in Parliament unfortunately.

If it wasn't for the tenacity of this man, the Post Office would have got away with everything. These are the kind of people we need running our country.

Sir Alan Bates it should be, for all the crap he has had to put up with and his tireless work for justice over 20 years.

The fact that he is referred to as Bates rather than Mr Bates tells us all what the Post Office thought about people that were supposedly in partnership with.

without AB the po would have got away with their disgusting / criminal behaviour. After this inquiry there needs to be arrests of all the people involved and they need to co to court ,charged and sent to prison!!

That last remark... a post master escorted out the back by the federation for speaking up on Horizon problems... It's like a scene from a bad 90's corporate movie, unreal! People need to go to prison for this.

THE UK NEEDS MORE PEOPLE OF THE CALIBRE of ALAN BATES!!

The post office is a great example of how an entitled establishment works. They always shoot the messenger if bad news

Mr Bates should be remembered for his bravery for standing up against a serious injustice. Legend.

What a dignified and lucid set of answers he gave to this derisory set of questions about an assessment of his performance from a bunch of ignorant corporate bullys !!!

This man deserves a knighthood for his tenacity and for lifting people out of sheer desperation, giving them their hope and integrity back, all in the name of justice.

We need to see Royal Mail and Fujitsu staff involved in the coverup held accountable

Imagine the full, complete, direct and indirect cost of this whole shameful episode all due to the type of basic IT error I deal with every day in my day job.

Enough, enough, Alan Bates should not be in this position all these years later He has acted with honesty and honour and he has spent fat too much of his life on this and needs to be paid out and left to enjoy some peace. His time spent on this case must be worth more than the lawyers who prosecuted all those innocent people.

Alan bates is a Hero and needs rewarded for saving the country millions and identifying the issues. Unfortunately the Tories and their ilk will hate him

The injustice is shocking. Why the appalling delay in getting these wronged people substantial compensation?

Funny how at the start pol call him alan or mr bates later he is refered to as bates . That speaks volumes

Can’t work out if this is George Orwell or Frank Kafka , I need to reread 1984 and The Trial. This evidence is really concerning. Is our civil service all like this?

It is so appalling how all the Post Masters, male and female, all the families and particularly those who were imprisoned, unjustly financially penalised, lost everything they had which included their Homes, their Reputations, their Health and their Lives, were treated An apology, an acknowledgment that they were wronged and compensation for their loss and pain & suffering will never make up for the monumental nature of their hardship but it will be a start But it looks like the Post Office and everyone connected to this Horizon Scandal, including Government officials past and present are determined never to acknowledge that they did anything wrong and just as determined to sabotage this Inquiry

As an Infosec professional, I want to know where the CISO is. The security team (unless incompetent) always knows what's going on in IT systems.

I had a very junior job in an IT company doing work for the government at the time this was all happening. I was instructed that when data didn't run without errors I should just create data so as to make everything work cleanly. That was the culture in IT

Alan Bates was very smart, he put a lot of his complaints in wrting and sent them via recoreded delivery thus meaning POL could deny ever receiving them. He must be a candidate for the House of Lords

All of the Post Office executives must be stripped of Titles and Privileges

Alan Bates, You are Amazing !!!!!!!!!!

Between 1999 and 2015, over 900 subpostmasters were convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting based on faulty Horizon data. And POL's behaviour appears to have been sanctioned by government. Post Office Limited seems to have been run by thugs for a couple of decades - how many of those thugs will be jailed? In 2003, our next door neighbours running the local post office were convicted and jailed. Nobody accepted they were actually guilty of anything including the two that were jailed.

Hen Tony Blair knew there were problems with horizon the whole thing was known to be defective. From then on everything had to be covered up. Many people knew but not that Fujitsu was able to steal money to make losses where there were none. Many knew this but nothing was done.

So much respect for him....Anyone who has been treated badly by management know what it's like to feel like your banging your head against a brick wall!

Misted watched 1st episode in USA, I’ve lived here for 46 years. How can these people still be fighting the government for just compensation for government malfeasance. I used to be believe in British justice which was transported worldwide, but perhaps it’s always been an illusion.

at the start notice the PO have just released 78,000 new documents that they forgot they had ! why is no one mentioning this ?

Alan bates is a extremely decent man. He stood up and fought for justice. We don't have his like in parliament. He should stand as a independent against anyone he chooses to stand against He will win 🏆 .his a national asset .what a fantastic guy 👏 .humble and good sense of humour. Great intellect he was a threat to the post office management who were out to rob and cheat the postmasters and mistresses .all the people who have been complicit in sending people to prison and made them homeless and jobless. Must be put in prison for a very long time. And have all there assets taken away from them and given over to the people who have been hurt in this scandal. All the bonuses must be taken back from the post office management ASAP.

Alan Bates, a man of integrity, truth, strength of character and fortitude. All the attributes that the post office hierarchy have not got. He should get the medal that the woman who was in charge was given.

Surely Andrew Parsons should now be given jail time by telling the Post Office in an e-mail to not leave a paper trail.

His time is worth nothing How much are the solicitor being paid??????

Nfsa were about as much use as a chocolate fireguard then. No surprises there.

Vennells had been led into temptation to steal postmasters money to pay her self bonuses

Alan Bates should be in charge of the post office, hell, I'd start using it

Will any of those responsible go to prison?

Alan Bates should be awarded Vennel's CBE!

honestly im not stuck for words but watching this.. just wow. wow.

It just gets more and more shocking

And so this circus rumbles on yet more delaying tactics on what is clearly obviously scandalous to say the least! Shameful doesn’t come close 🤦‍♀️🤔

What I don't understand is that Royal Mail/Post Office didn't ever just throw this back at Fijitsu? If I bought a car and the garage mechanic couldn't fix it because it was full of faulty components I wouldn't blame or go after the mechanic for being useless or incompetent. Especially if the mechanic said it was full of faulty components, I would just get hold of the manufacturer to replace it. The only time I wouldn't is if I bought it under some dodgy deal or other that I couldn't return it because I would end up going to jail? I hope the original Horizon contract is/has also been looked and who was involved in it.

My father was a senior engineer at the Post Office, just below the board level but deputising for his boss on the board, as required. This was before privatisation and all staff and board received civil service salary grades. These were decent pay grades but a tiny fraction of what these board members were and are receiving. I met many of my father's Post Office colleagues and they were conservative (small c) in their work & business ethics. Nothing like this scandal could ever have happened at that time. They believed that they worked for a public service.

Alan bates should run this country and make it. Great Britain again

That man is a HERO!!! Kudos to him!

As if POL & government, including Mr Bates own MP. Failing him, (at best) even the federation, the postmasters own union, refused to help.

Why would they do this to innocent people?

You have the POs attitude to Mr Bates in the way they do not use the courtesy of using the title Mr in the letter they wrote about him plus the other inflammatory language

The fact its still going on. They are still trying to prosecute people who use Horizon and that they have been delaying giving over documents means there are lots of managers that shouldn't be there, still employeed and they should also been ones that get prison sentences. The main people that were involved.

Mr Bates I don’t know how you kept up your strength of purpose during the decades of disgrace by these lyin criminals.

How have they managed to get copies of all the information from 24 years ago? You would have imagined the post office would have deleted or shredded all the evidence!

The Honours list should be full of the likes of Alan bates, not cronies and donors of political parties or washed up politicians.

in the letter they refer to him as just "bates". hes a real pain in thier asses . good

The Postoffice REFUSED to accept that the computer system was faulty

1. Compensate these people generously asap. 2. Jail the decision makers, corporate, regulators, and politicians alike. 3. Nationalise the Post Office without compensation to its crooked majority shareholders. 4. Any members of the public who have shares should get 1:1 shares or dividends in the new publicly owned company.