Post Office outrage escalates as Rishi Sunak joins calls to strip Paula Vennells of CBE
Millie Cooke TW.mp4
Rishi Sunak has joined calls to strip former Post Office chief Paula Vennells of her CBE, saying he would "strongly support" the Honours Forfeiture Committee if it decided to look at revoking her award.
The Prime Minister's spokesperson said he "shares the public’s strength of feeling” on this issue.
More than 700 sub-postmasters were handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 after faulty software wrongly suggested the employees were stealing money.
More than one million people have signed a petition calling for Vennells to be stripped of her CBE, an award she was given for services to the Post Office.
Vennells oversaw the Post Office as the Horizon scandal unfolded and repeatedly denied problems with the system
PA
The petition, addressed to Sir Chris Wormald, chair of the Forfeiture Committee, says: “Evidence has been produced that the Post Office engaged in a mass cover up which led to the wrongful prosecution of 550 Post Office Staff many of whom were subsequently jailed, bankrupted and in some cases, sadly took their own lives.
“Having been handed a CBE for services to the Post Office, and moved out into other senior positions in government and healthcare, it is only right that this award is now withdrawn through the process of forfeiture.”
Vennells oversaw the Post Office as the Horizon scandal unfolded and repeatedly denied problems with the system.
She said she was “truly sorry” for the “suffering” caused to those wrongly convicted of offences.
Yesterday, Sunak confirmed that Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is considering plans to exonerate all 700 subpostmasters convicted in the scandal.
Just 93 people have so far been pardoned for the convictions, which were handed out between 1999 and 2015.
Victims of the Horizon Post Office scandal have also demanded Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey resign as fresh revelations emerge over his role in the saga.
Davey served as Minister for the Post Office between 2010 and 2012 in the coalition government.
He is being accused of having turned down a meeting with campaigner and former sub-postmaster Alan Bates while he fought for justice for postal workers.
But the Lib Dem leader has attempted to distance himself from the scandal, claiming he was "deeply misled" about the situation during his time as post office minister.
Davey, along with several other ministers, faced repeated warnings about the accounting problems and issues with the software.
A spokesperson for the Lib Dem politician said he "bitterly regrets” that the Post Office was not honest with him.
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They added that "in hindsight", Davey wishes that he could have done more.
Ex-postmistress Sally Stringer called for a "concerted effort to get the responsible individuals", claiming that the root of the scandal “goes back to ministerial decisions” - some of which she described as being “wicked”.
Giving evidence to the ongoing public inquiry, Stringer said: "There has to be a concerted effort to get the responsible individuals.