'That postmasters must still battle for justice in 2024 is scandalous'

'Post Office scandal is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history'

The Mirror editorial board 

The Post Office scandal has now cost taxpayers in excess of £1 billion, and "there is probably no amount of money that could adequately compensate the 555 postmasters wrongly accused of theft", says The Mirror's editorial board. Many were "grotesquely jailed", with some dying before their convictions could be overturned, yet their treatment by the authorities "remains appalling" . As another year begins, "it is scandalous they are still battling for justice and for those responsible for their suffering to be held to account".

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The truth behind Hamas's birth has been forgotten

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on the i news site

The "agenda and aggravations" of Hamas can be likened to those of the IRA, "a group that doesn't give a damn about the suffering its actions cause to their own people", writes Yasmin Alibhai-Brown for the i news site. Gaza's militant rulers have "turned the legitimate Palestinian cause into a hate-fuelled religious crusade". But while Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer "bang on" about "evil Hamas", journalists should also question "how Israel created and sustained Hamas", yet do not, "because that would upend the propaganda".

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In Britain and the US, elections signify democracy. They also mask its decline

Rafael Behr in The Guardian 

This bumper election year would be a "cause for celebration, if democracy consisted only of the act of voting", says Rafael Behr in The Guardian. But leaders such as Donald Trump grab power by using "demoralisation" to "discredit the idea that elections make a difference". While UK politics is "reassuringly tepid" in comparison, Rishi Sunak "indulges the Trumpian side of British conservatism". So, "the question is not whether Britain is immune, but how soon the rot can be stopped". 

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It's time we stop pressuring ourselves to be 'happy'

Anne McLaughlin in The National 

Over the Christmas and New Year period, "we are all supposed to be happy", writes SNP MP Anne McLaughlin for The National. But as 2024 begins, she suggests that "we would all be a lot 'happier' if we didn't keep trying to be so happy". Seeking "connection, fulfilment and purpose" instead would leave us "a whole lot happier this time next year". 

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