Above left, the miracles of modern technology – a facial reconstruction of Alexander the Great. Right, Rishi Sunak.
Let me start off by stating that I did not watch the docudrama about the sub postmasters and mistresses involved in the Post Office – Horizon scandal.
Why? When I watch dramas I like to be entertained and not upset. That said, I did know about this scandal as I do keep abreast of current affairs. This because I do listen to news broadcasts in the knowledge that one will often be upset.
I greet the news that Parliament is going to emulate Alexander the Great and apply his Gordian Knot solution to the case of the Post Office – Horizon scandal. I greet the news with split feelings:
~ Happiness for those poor people (this includes the family members of those who have been put through the mill) in the knowledge that financial compensation and statutory exoneration will arrive before New Year’s Day 2025.
~ Caution because of Parliament’s use of the Alexander strategy: You see, the Right Honourable Rishi Sunak is many things. But an Alexander the Great figure he is most certainly not! Alexander was an absolute monarch and a military leader. Such men often adopt a Gordian Knot approach to problems. Had Mr Sunak not given the green light to this approach those sub postmasters and mistresses would indeed have received financial compensation and judicial exoneration – but after a much much longer wait than New Year’s Day 2025!
Anybody who has had dealings with lawyers over such things as buying and selling a house, making a will or dealing with a deceased’s estate and obtaining a grant of probate or letters of administration will be able to testify that like the Mills of God, solicitors are exceeding slow! This is of course why Mr Sunak, with the agreement of Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Edward Davey will have adopted the Gordian Knot procedure of primary legislation replacing the judicial process. For once journalistic hyperbole is fully justified; this is unprecedented in terms of British politics.
Why am I so cautious?
Because this sets a precedent. There occurs in the life of a nation events that become a cause célèbre. Often a manifest miscarriage of justice that justifiably angers and even enrages the “man on the Clapham omnibus”. “Something must be done and done now!” is the clarion call emanating from the popular press and the broadcast media. Politicians (especially when weak and vulnerable – like Mr Sunak and unlike Alexander the Great) seize on a Gordian Knot solution out of weakness and a desire to court the approval of the masses.
You see, there is good reason for the separation of powers. The founding fathers of the USA knew this well. In the USA there is the executive branch (the Presidency), the legislative branch (Congress) and the judicial branch. All three are separate.
What Messrs. Sunak, Starmer and Davey have done is to impose a statutory solution to a judicial process. They have hijacked due process.
It is said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I do not doubt that Messrs. Sunak, Starmer and Davey have good intentions, but this event may well come back in future to haunt us all.