King strips CBE from former Post Office boss Paula Vennells | Post Office Horizon scandal

The former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has forfeited her CBE for “bringing the honours system into disrepute” over her handling of the Horizon crisis.

Vennells was named on Friday in a list published on the Cabinet Office website as an individual whose honour had been revoked by King Charles.

Issuing an apology last month, Vennells announced that she planned to hand back her CBE “with immediate effect” after a fresh fallout over the Horizon IT scandal, which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of post office operators.

Vennells, 65, who ran the Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system, was made a CBE in December 2018, the year after hundreds of post office operators had launched legal action against their convictions.

More than 700 post office operators were convicted after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it look as though money was missing from their accounts.

MPs and victims of the scandal have for years called for Vennells to be stripped of the honour, which has the full title Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

The Post Office said she was recognised for her work on “diversity and inclusion” as well as her “commitment to the social purpose at the heart of the business and her dedication in putting the customer first”.

Demands for her to return the honour intensified after an ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, brought the widespread miscarriage of justice back into the spotlight at the turn of the year.

More than 1.2 million people signed a petition calling for her to be stripped of the CBE.

In a statement to PA Media on 9 January, 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 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.”

While an individual can signal they want to renounce their honour, the only person who can sign off on the forfeit is the monarch.

Before Vennells issued her statement, Downing Street had made it clear that the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, would “strongly support” a review of whether she should hold on to the honour.

Vennells was chief executive of the company from 2012-19, taking the helm in the same year it split from Royal Mail as part of the latter’s privatisation.

An ordained Anglican priest in the Church of England, Vennells is due to give evidence to the public inquiry into the scandal when it resumes in April.