Paula Vennells: former Post Office boss says she will hand back CBE immediately after public anger at Horizon scandal

Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has said that she will hand back her CBE with immediate effect following calls for her to be stripped of the honour in the wake of the Horizon scandal.

More than one million people had signed a petition which called for the former chief executive's honour, which she received in December 2018 for her services to the Post Office and charity, to be taken away. During her time at the Post Office, Vennells had routinely denied that there was an issue with the Horizon IT systems, which wrongly showed money was missing from branches and led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of staff members.

In a statement, Ms Vennells said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the Inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months. 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 sub-postmasters 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. I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the Inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”

The Post Office Horizon scandal has sparked wider public outrage after the ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office' highlighted the miscarriage of justice to sub-postmasters convicted. The government is said to be looking at options to exonerate those who were wrongfully convicted, with Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride telling Times Radio: “Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, is in discussions with senior people within the justice system, judges and so on, to look at what the options are to make sure that we push through that backlog of appeals as quickly as possible.”