The government needs to stop making matters worse

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Who was listening to our subpostmasters at the beginning? (AP)

The Post Office scandal highlights why we need a new approach to politics that sets aside government by gimmick in favour of listening to people’s deep concerns and acting to address them.

The government is constantly cleaning up after its own mess and expending untold energy on performative policies that no one believes will work. Just look at the Post Office – a scandal in the making from the day ministers decided to downgrade its public service ethos in a drive for profits.

That meant rushed, bungled and, ultimately, catastrophic decisions on outsourcing complex IT that led to hundreds of honest people being condemned as thieves and fraudsters.