The Post Office Horizon scandal has long been a frustrating one to follow as a technology reporter, because – for all that it stems from the botched rollout of a massive government IT project – it isn’t a technology story at all.
There is a desire, with stories like this, to uncover the one specific fault from which the disaster unfolded. Take Grenfell Tower: there were flaws throughout the system, uncovered in harrowing detail by the inquiry into the fire, but it’s also clear that the deadly error was cladding the building with flammable panels. Identifying that fulcrum point leads to further questions in both directions (how were the panels deemed safe and could the building have been safely evacuated even given that flaw), but it is clear where the catastrophe lies.
