The Horizon scandal shows how badly Britain is run

The Post Office inquiry has shed an unflattering light on the inner workings of Whitehall, a hermetically sealed world in which officials purr with reassurance, ministers unquestioningly promulgate their findings to the outside world, and the little people (in this case, innocent sub-postmasters) are fobbed off as know-nothing troublemakers.

The inquiry is investigating what happened and who is to blame for the Horizon scandal. Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of sub-postmasters were accused of wrongdoing after faulty IT software showed errors in their accounts. Many were accused of false accounting, theft, or fraud: 236 ended up in prison. Others were financially ruined after being forced to pay back substantial sums. Some of those accused have died without clearing their names, and at least four are known to have committed suicide.

Two of the country’s leading politicians are the latest to appear before the inquiry, facing question after question about their involvement and why they did not do more to help sub-postmasters.