All eyes on Davey as Vennells gives up CBE
Former Post Office boss hands back honour, putting pressure on Lib Dem leader to do the same
SHAMED former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has bowed to pressure to hand back her CBE over anger at her role in the Horizon IT scandal.
She announced that she will forfeit the honour “with immediate effect” after Rishi Sunak intervened to say he would back her being stripped of it.
Her decision will pile pressure on Sir Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader who was the Post Office minister at the time, to return his knighthood.
More than 700 branch managers were convicted after a faulty computer programme made it look as though money was missing from their shops.
The accounting software was designed by Fujitsu, the Japanese technology firm, which is facing calls to pay out millions in compensation to victims.
It is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history, with Downing Street now looking at issuing a blanket exoneration of those found guilty.
In a statement, Ms Vennells broke her long silence over the scandal to address the growing clamour for her to hand back her honour.
“I am aware of the calls from subpostmasters and others to return my CBE,” she said. “I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.
“I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the subpostmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.”
Ms Vennells added that she had previously felt it would be “inappropriate to comment publicly” before she gives evidence to a public inquiry into the scandal.
Her announcement was welcomed by Mr Sunak, with a Downing Street spokesman saying it was “obviously the right decision” to forfeit the honour.
“Our focus continues to be on ensuring all those whose lives were torn apart have swifter access to compensation and justice,” he added.
Fury over the scandal has centred on Ms Vennells, who joined the Post Office in 2007 and rose through the ranks to become its chief executive in 2012.
She was handed her CBE for services to “diversity and inclusion” in the January 2019 honours list, a month before she stood down from her role.
A petition calling for her to be stripped of it had been signed by more than 1.2 million people, with senior MPS adding their voice to the demands.
The King will now have to formally annul the honour, which was handed to the former Post Office boss by his mother, Elizabeth II.
Ms Vennells will then have to return her insignia to Buckingham Palace, and will no longer be able to make any future reference to having a CBE.
Senior Tories welcomed her decision and suggested that it should prompt Sir Ed to consider handing back the knighthood he was awarded in 2016.
Brendan Clarke-smith, a deputy chairman of the Conservatives, said: “Whilst it still goes nowhere near far enough in terms of achieving justice for subpostmasters, handing back the CBE is the right decision.
“Perhaps this should set a precedent and it’s time for other public figures to do the same.”
Richard Tice, the leader of Reform UK, added: “Vennells has belatedly done the right thing. The nation looks forward to Sir Ed Davey doing the right thing.”
The Liberal Democrat leader also faced anger from subpostmasters who have said he must be held accountable for his failure to act on the Horizon scandal.
Yvonne Tracey, a former postmistress who is also a councillor in his Kingston and Surbiton constituency, said: “I think Ed’s denials and deflections are shameful.
“It’s time for Ed to do the right thing and hand back his knighthood.” Asked if Sir Ed will return his knighthood, a Liberal Democrat spokesman said: “No he will not. As Ed has said many times, he wishes he’d known then what we all know now.
“It’s right that Vennells gave back her CBE, she was at the centre of a conspiracy of lies against the victims, the public and ministers of all parties.”
The Liberal Democrat leader has faced intense criticism since it emerged he turned down a request to meet campaigning subpostmaster Alan Bates in 2010. Mr Bates, whose fight for justice has been made into an ITV drama, eventually gave up trying to deal with Sir Ed and accused him of parroting Post Office lines.
Sir Ed did later meet a group of subpostmasters and says he raised their concerns with the company, but was lied to by bosses who told him they were unfounded. He told The
Guardian: “We were reassured time and again that the Horizon system was working. We were told there weren’t that many postmasters affected. We were just told so many lies.
“We absolutely have to have these people completely exonerated – their convictions must be overturned. The Post Office lied to judges and the courts.”
But senior Conservatives accused him of trying to shirk responsibility and said he should have been tougher in demanding answers from executives.
Sir Edward Leigh, a Tory MP and former Post Office minister, said it was “reprehensible” that the Liberal Democrat leader was “trying to dodge the bullet”.
Sir John Redwood, a former Cabinet minister, added: “He could have listened to those who knew things were wrong. It was his job to supervise or change the management.”
A Conservative spokesman accused Sir Ed of having “gone into hiding” and said he must “fully co-operate with the public inquiry to help explain why this happened to make sure it can never happen again”.
Mr Tice said Sir Ed had failed to “ask the right questions that voters would expect a minister of the crown to” and should stand down as Liberal Democrat leader.
“Ed Davey applied what I would call the lazy, complacent ‘trust the executives’ approach, as opposed to being a diligent, conscientious minister, who challenged the establishment and the status quo and didn’t accept what he was being told,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Allies have said that the Liberal Democrat leader, who was the Post Office minister from May 2010 to February 2012, is being turned into a scapegoat.
A source close to him insisted: “As Alan Bates said yesterday, Ed was one of many ministers who was misled and lied to by the Post Office.”
‘Ed Davey applied what I would call the lazy, complacent “trust the executives” approach’