"There is a commonly stated “rule” of grammar that beginning a sentence with and, or any other conjunction, is a mistake. But this is just not true. This supposed “rule” has no basis in actual writing, and even formal writing features plenty of sentences that start with and and other conjunctions" https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/starting-a-sentence-with-and/ I believe this was covered by QI too. It was just a "rule" that was taught at school but it has no basis in fact.
Angela van der Bogweed's turn to get a shellacking off the brilliant Mr Beer. I forget what Angela's grand title is or was. It had about 8 or 9 words in it and most of them were 'Head', 'Chief', 'Director', 'Supreme' etc. But what does she actually do all day, Mr Beer would like to know? Jason Beer said: “Not involved in briefing, not involved in IT, not involved in the provision of information concerning Horizon to Second Sight, not involved in investigating those early complaints about Horizon, not involved in considering the impact of the Second Sight report on convictions. What were you doing?” She gulped and muttered that she had an ummm “separate role”, adding: “I was doing whatever my business-as-usual role was." (Whilst thinking) "And that involved doing fack all. So there!" Van Bogweed - "Ummmmmmm......"
I noticed the PO career CV listed by Beer seemed to see her job title changing every 18 months or so, and all of them being a variant of ‘Director of the Newest Management-Speak Sinecure’. Every single one of them pegged crucially just below the level where any real responsibility could be lodged at her door. ‘Oh, I would have been required to feed that info to my direct line of reporting’ was a regular response. In the photo you’ve posted above, she is frantically thinking ‘who the fark was my immediate boss at that specific time’ so she could ensure she was throwing the correct ‘superior’ under the bus. And that is an upsettingly apt metaphor given one of the lines of questioning she has faced today.
Even suffering with a bad flu, good old Jason Beer absolutely flippin' mullers one Jarnail Singh. Mr Singh was Head of Criminal Law and apparently a 'senior' lawyer. Top man. The big dog. Careful when Mr Singh's around. But wouldn't you know it, it turns out he tells the inquiry that he is very, very junior. The law? Nope, knows nothing about it. Sorry. That would be a matter for his Line Manager. He knew nothing, had no responsibilities and didn't really do very much at all. Had absolutely no involvement in any prosecutions. No, no, no. Mr Beer asks him if the Horizon bugs they all knew about were disclosed at the Misra trial where he was the prosecutor as they should have been. He can't remember even though the case went to appeal and it was a pregnant woman being jailed. He waffles on about something completely different. Mr Beer tells him that is NOT the question he asked, please answer. Was the existence of bugs disclosed. Well it wasn't his job to disclose such information being only a junior and that's why he had assistants in the court to help him because he knew so little and certainly nothing about any bugs. Mr Beer tries again. Was it disclosed? The answer is obviously 'no' because it's right there in the court records that it wasn't. But old Jarmail won't be caught out admitting to anything at all. He knows nothing. Full stop. No, no, no! A break is called by a flagging Mr Beer for a good old nose blow and some Lemsip. When they resume, he asks Singh about an email he received highlighting bugs in horizon and the potential impact on criminal prosecutions because postmasters could end up with incorrect balances. Mr Singh cannot remember receiving this email, which came on the Friday afternoon when he was prosecuting the Misra case on the Monday. If he did receive it, which be didn't, then he doesn't remember reading it and even if he did read it, he wouldn't have understood it because he is not "technically minded". Things like 'impact on prosecutions', bugs and balances were completely lost on a humble junior such as himself. But anyway he didn't receive it and didn't read it. Jason then springs the trap closed. How come the document sent was saved onto his PC's hard drive then? Singh is mystified. He has no idea how that could have happened. It wasn't him because being such a feeble ninny, he had no idea how one would even save a document to a drive. So it couldn't have been him. So you're saying that during all your years at the post office, you never ever saved a document? Yes, that's right says Singh with a straight face. Mr Beer moves on. So how come the document was also printed out on his office printer 9 minutes after it was received then? Ummm.. .no it wasn't him. He didn't receive it and he also doesn't know how to print out a document. He'd often wondered what that big lump of plastic was in his office that sometimes ejected pieces of printed paper. As the office junior he was too intimidated to ask any of the grown ups what it was for. Not technically minded you see. So never printed out any documents during all your time at the post office? No, no, no! So you have a file of hard copies of all documents for each case you prosecute, right? Yes admits Singh reluctantly. So how did that printed copy of the email about the bugs end up in your case file for the Misra case? Singh doesn't know. How do all the documents appear in the case files then? Who prints them? Singh's face lights up. "Susan!" he exclaims. "The secretary, she does it!". So you tell her what documents to print, right? Yes, I do a dictaphone confesses Singh. Leaned back in his big comfy leather chair acting the Kant, I shouldn't wonder. So you told Susan to print out this document for the Misra case, then? Not no, no! It must have been Susan who took it on herself to do it without her dictating comfy leather-enveloped master knowing anything about it. SHE is the one to blame! That Susan! Grrrrr.... Eventually Jason Beer gets fed up and tells Singh that what he has told the inquiry is a "big fat lie". No, no, no! It's that Susan to blame...
It’s astonishing how every person with a well-paid position in POL was, actually, very junior, so junior in fact that every decision taken during the whole affair was ‘far beyond my level of authority’. I can only conclude the whole scandal was orchestrated by The Wizard Of Oz.
