Post Office scandal – live: Paula Vennells hands back CBE after more than 1 million sign petition

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is to hand back her CBE following the fallout of the Horizon IT scandal which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters.

The former chief executive, who ran the Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system, was appointed a CBE in December 2018.

In a statement, Ms Vennells said: “I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the Inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.

“I am, however, aware of the calls from subpostmasters and others to return my CBE. I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.

“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.”

It comes after demands for her to return the honour intensified after an ITV drama returned the widespread miscarriage of justice to the spotlight and a petition to see her lose the honour attracted more than 1 million signatures.

Key Points

• Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to return CBE over Horizon scandal

• Minister hints at new law to quash all 800 Horizon scandal convictions at once

• Wrongly convicted subpostmistress reacts to Paula Vennells handing back her CBE

• Why did Paula Vennells hand back her CBE?

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to return CBE over Horizon scandal

13:19 , Athena Stavrou

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells is to hand back her CBE following the fallout of the Horizon IT scandal which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters.

The former chief executive, who ran the Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system, was appointed a CBE in December 2018.

It comes after demands for her to return the honour intensified after an ITV drama returned the widespread miscarriage of justice to the spotlight.

“I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the Inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months,” she said in a statement. “I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the Inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.

“I am, however, aware of the calls from subpostmasters and others to return my CBE. I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.

“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.”

She added: “I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the Inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”

Minister hints at new law to quash all 800 Horizon scandal convictions at once

13:22 , Adam Forrest

Rishi Sunak is actively considering an emergency bill to quash all 800 Horizon IT scandal convictions at once, the justice secretary has revealed.

Mr Sunak’s ministers are in crunch talks on the best way to clear the names of hundreds of Post Office subpostmasters wrongfully convicted in the scandal. Justice secretary Alex Chalk told the Commons that the government was giving “active consideration” to using legislation to overturn the convictions.

Former cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi urged him to bring forward a “simple bill to quash all 800” convictions immediately.

Mr Chalk said Mr Zahawi’s suggestion was “receiving active consideration”, before adding: “I expect to be able to make further announcements shortly,” he added.

Why did Paula Vennells hand back her CBE?

13:38 , Athena Stavrou

Paula Vennells is the former chief executive of the Post Office and held office between 2012 and 2019, while it was routinely denying there was anything wrong with the Horizon IT system.

The Post Office continued to wrongly prosecute Post Office employees for theft up until 2015 - which saw innocent be sent to prison, lose their homes or in some cases, sadly resort to suicide.

A new ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office has re-sparked national outrage at the scandal and prompted calls for Ms Vennells to return her CBE, which was appointed in December 2018.

A petition addressed to Sir Chris Wormald, the chair of the committee which re-examines honours, calling for Ms Vennells to lose hers has already attracted more than one million signatures.

Labour’s shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said on Monday the honour is an “insult” and should be handed back.

Mr Hollinrake told the Commons that it is “perfectly reasonable” to ask the former Post Office boss to hand back her CBE after this had gone “so badly wrong” and the prime minister’s official spokesperson said that Mr Sunak would “strongly support” the forfeiture committee “if they were to choose to investigate”.

Mr Alan Bates himself said that he had been offered an OBE but had turned it down as Ms Vennells had also received ones.

He told Good Morning Britain: “It would have been a slap in the face to the rest of the group because Paula Venells, the CEO for many years of Post Office, received a CBE for her services to Post Office. Well, what service has she actually done?”

13:45 , Athena Stavrou

Susanna Reid grilled the former Post Office minister Paul Scully this morning asking him who’s decision it was to grant disgraced ex-boss Paula Vennells a CBE.

The Good Morning Britain Host asked Mr Scully: “WHO thought it was appropriate to give Paula Vennells a CBE?”

Mr Scully was the postal affairs minister from 2020 to 2022 and claimed he had ‘no idea’ as he went on to be questioned why he didn’t raise any concerns over the award when he took up the post a year later.

Watch the clip below:

Wrongly convicted subpostmistress reacts to Paula Vennells handing back her CBE

13:51 , Athena Stavrou

A former subpostmistress has said she is “glad” ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells has handed her CBE back, adding: “It’s a shame it took just a million people to cripple her conscience.”

Jo Hamilton, who was wrongfully convicted in 2008 of stealing thousands of pounds from the village shop in South Warnborough, Hampshire, told the PA news agency: “It shows the people have spoken – about everything really.

“It’s not just about her CBE, it’s about how disgusting the whole thing is.

“We’re all sick and tired of people taking money, being paid exorbitant amounts of money, and politicians taking absolutely no notice of you whatsoever… I think the people are just sick of it.”

She added: “I’m glad she’s given it back.

“It’s a shame it took just a million people to cripple her conscience.”

No 10 hints government could review Fujitsu contracts

13:55 , Adam Forrest

No 10 has hinted that the government could review whether Fujitsu – the company at the centre of the Horizon scandal storm – gets government contracts in future.

Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said on Tuesday that Fujitsu will be “held accountable”, legally or financially, if the ongoing public inquiry finds it blundered in the IT scandal.

But the PM’s spokesman did not say the government would stop awarding contracts – saying only that companies’ conduct was “in general” would be considered as part of the procurement process.“

In general, we consider companies’ conduct as part of the formal procurement process,” said the No 10 official. “So once the full facts have been established by the inquiry, we will make further judgments but it’s important we allow that process to take place.”

Technology firm behind faulty Horizon software called to questioning

14:00 , Athena Stavrou

Fujitsu has been called to answer questions from MPs on an influential select committee next week over its role in the Horizon scandal.

The Japanese technology business manufactured the faulty Horizon computer system at the heart of the scandal, which led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of subpostmasters.

The Business and Trade Committee said the Government’s Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake has confirmed he will attend the evidence session on Tuesday January 16.

Alan Bates, the former subpostmaster who brought a claim against the Post Office and was the subject of a recent ITV drama, has also been invited to attend the committee.

Justice secretary says ‘truly exceptional’ scandal needs to be resolved

14:08 , Adam Forrest

Justice secretary Alex Chalk told senior Tory Robert Buckland that he agreed that the scandal amounted to “truly exceptional circumstances” – calling it “the most serious miscarriage of justice since the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six”.

Hinting that the government could back the legislation that Mr Buckland and others are calling for, the justice secretary said “it will need an appropriate resolution”.

However, senior Tory Sir Bob Neill, Tory chair of the Commons justice secretary, said Mr Chalk should be sure that speeding up current appeals process could not offer resolution within an “acceptable timeframe”.

Mr Chalk said the government would only introduce legislation if it had “exhausted all alternatives before taking radical action”.

Britain’s youngest postmaster says Vennells handing back CBE was ‘overdue’

14:19 , Athena Stavrou

Once crowned the youngest sub-postmaster in Britain, in 2006 at the age of 18, Mr Head’s tenure came to an abrupt end when he was accused of theft and fraud by the Post Office in 2015.

Mr Head was left unable to find work after the accusation and felt his only option was to leave his home in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and seek work abroad in Greece.

Upon hearing the news that Paula Vennell’s has handed back her CBE, the now 36-year-old told The Independent that he thinks the move is “long overdue”.

“I think it is long overdue, why it has taken so long to hand it,” he said. “It is only through outrage of the drama and millions of signatures that has forced her to hand it back.”

“What that has done is take the focus away from the victims, who are still awaiting proper redress and the remaining convictions overturned.

“Those are the people we need to focus on and her failure to do the right thing over the last few years has meant political resources have had to be used to try to get it taken back from her.”

‘Just the start’: Campaigners want more after CBE victory

14:30 , Athena Stavrou

Robin Priestley, campaigns director at 38 Degrees, said the successful online petition which gained 1.2 million signatures was “an incredible example of people power in action”.

“This is a huge symbolic step, but there’s still so much more to do,” he said. “Now it’s time for full compensation, pardons, and accountability for all those responsible.”

Petition starter David Smith, 35, a former software developer from Greater Manchester, said: “To me, the removal of the CBE is just the start. What I’m hoping is that as soon as somebody as senior as her is held accountable at this level, it will start a domino effect that will lead to the justice and compensation that everyone affected deserves.”

Handing back CBE ‘right thing to do’, says campaigning Tory

14:42 , Adam Forrest

Lord Arbuthnot, the campaigning Tory peer who sits on the Horizon compensation advisory board, has said Paula Vennells’s decision to give back her CBE is “the right thing” to do.

He told Sky News: “I’m pleased this has now happened because it means the sub-postmasters can begin to concentrate on the wider picture of getting convictions overturned... and getting their compensation quickly.

“Then we can focus on the holding to account of those including Paula Vennells, who have put them through this.”

Tories should explain Vennells’ CBE, say Lib Dems

14:54 , Adam Forrest

The Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Paula Vennells was “right” to hand back her CBE – but claimed that the Conservatives “still need to explain why they gave it to her in the first place in 2019, along with a plum job at the top of the Cabinet Office”.

She added: “Oliver Dowden needs to explain why he failed to sack Paula Vennells as a Cabinet Office director when the high court judgment was handed down in 2019, exposing her full involvement in the Horizon scandal.”

Family of Post Office victim asks ‘who gave her that CBE?'

15:17 , Athena Stavrou

Varchas Patel, whose father Vipin who was wrongfully convicted of fraud in 2011 after being accused of stealing £75,000 from his Post Office branch in Oxford, said Paula Vennells did not deserve her CBE, labelling it as a “golden handshake for fighting Mr Bates in court.”

Mr Patel told the PA news agency: “My initial reaction is good, I’m glad. She doesn’t deserve that CBE, she never did deserve that CBE.

“Now the big question for me is, who gave her that CBE?

“When she was given that CBE… there were two other things that happened – one, she was given a CBE, two, she was given a seat at the Cabinet Office and three, she was given a job as the chair of the Imperial College (Healthcare NHS Trust). They gave her three golden handshakes for fighting Mr Bates in court.”

Mr Patel added: “It’s not just Paula Vennells, there are others.

“There are in-house Post Office lawyers, and especially the in-house investigators – the investigators who investigated the likes of my father and others.”

What does the King have to do now Paula Vennells has handed back her CBE?

15:36 , Athena Stavrou

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennels said in a statement that she had “listened” to the calls from critics including hounded supostmasters and will “return my CBE with immediate effect”.

But the process is a little bit more tricky than that, and even involves the King.

The only person who can actually forfeit an honour is Charles. The King takes advice from the Forfeiture Committee chaired by senior civil servant Sir Chris Wormald.

Typically, the group might recommend someone is stripped of their gong if they are convicted of a criminal offence, or any other behaviour that brings the honours system into disrepute.

But individuals can also signal they want to renounce their honour, as Ms Vennells has now done. Until the King acts on the advice of the committee, however, Ms Vennells continues to hold the title.

SNP government looking at ‘pardon scheme’ for Scottish postmasters

16:00 , Athena Stavrou

SNP government looking at ‘pardon scheme’ for Scottish postmastersThe Scottish government is looking at the idea of a separate “pardon scheme” for Scottish postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal, the SNP justice secretary has said.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) has already sent seven such cases to the appeal court, two of which have resulted in overturned convictions, Angela Constance said in Holyrood on Tuesday.

But the SNP minister added: “We are, however, looking at what more can be done. We are looking at the idea of a pardon scheme.”

Downing Street welcomes Vennells returning her CBE

16:11 , Athena Stavrou

Downing Street has welcomed former Post Office boss Paula Vennells announcing she wants to hand back her CBE over the Horizon scandal.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We think that is obviously the right decision.

“Our focus continues to be on ensuring all those whose lives were torn apart have swifter access to compensation and justice.”

Previously, an official spokesperson said that Mr Sunak would “strongly support” the forfeiture committee “if they were to choose to investigate”.

Watch: Fujitsu will ‘possibly’ have to pay compensation for Post Office Horizon scandal victims, minister says

16:22 , Athena Stavrou

Fujitsu will “quite possibly” be “on the hook” to pay compensation to victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal, a government minister has said.

More than 700 Post Office branch managers were convicted after faulty Fujitsu accounting software Horizon made it look like money was missing from their shops.

A public inquiry into the scandal is ongoing.

“It won’t necessarily just be the taxpayer... that is on the hook for this money”, Mel Stride told Nick Ferrari on LBC on Tuesday.

19:04 , Sam Rkaina

We’re pausing our live coverage of the post office scandal but keep checking independent.co.uk for the latest updates.