Sunak refused to intervene in Post Office CBE row

RISHI SUNAK and Sir Keir Starmer have refused to back calls for a former Post Office boss to be stripped of her CBE because she presided over the Horizon IT scandal.

Demands for the Honours Forfeiture Committee to remove Paula Vennells’s have re-emerged after ITV aired a drama about the scandal, described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history. Ms Vennells oversaw the Post Office when it routinely denied the system had flaws.

The Prime Minister yesterday declined to say whether he thought she should lose the honour, while Sir Keir Starmer stressed that compensation for victims was “overdue”.

“There’s an independent process for honours forfeiture, which is done by an independent committee, so that’s a separate process from government,” Mr Sunak said. He added: “More generally, my job is to make sure that we’re putting in place the compensation schemes and all those people who ... suffered an appalling miscarriage of justice, get the justice that they deserve, and that’s what we’re delivering.

“I’m pleased we’re delivering that and I’d urge anyone affected to come forward and make sure that they can benefit from those schemes.”

More than 700 Post Office branch managers were convicted by courts after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money had gone missing.

Ms Vennells later said she was “truly sorry” for the “suffering” caused to sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted of offences.

Sir Keir Starmer told ITV News: “Whether she hands back her award is really a matter for her.”

A public inquiry has been set up to investigate the scandal.