May's Government 'pushed through' Paula Vennells CBE despite Horizon concerns

14 January 2024 , 18:54

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Former Post Office boss Paula Vennells has said she will hand back her CBE (Image: PA)

Theresa May’s Government reportedly pushed through an honour for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells despite concerns being raised over the Horizon IT scandal.

Ms Vennells was put forward for a CBE in the 2019 New Year Honours list by the Department for Business, although the-then Business Secretary Greg Clark was not involved.

The wisdom of awarding her with a gong was reportedly discussed by the main honours committee in October 2018 amid a growing clamour over the scandal, sources told the Sunday Times. But despite the fact that a group action from 555 sub-postmasters was heading for the High Court, her nomination was rubber stamped and then signed off by the-then Prime Minister Mrs May.

Sources suggested the concerns were "brushed aside" and one suggested Ms Vennells was being rewarded for taking a tough stance on controlling cost. “This was her reward for bending her conscience and holding the line,” the source told the paper.

Ms Vennells said last week that she would give up her CBE in the wake of a furious public backlash to the ITV drama 'Mr Bates vs the Post Office'. More than 1.2 million people signed a petition demanding she be stripped of the honour.

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In a statement, she said: "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."

A spokeswoman for Mrs May said: “The honours system is an independent process which awards honours to more than 2,000 people each year. Recipients are announced biannually and each recommendation is considered by one of ten honours committees with the final list being agreed by the Main Honours Committee.

"As Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Theresa May MP, always respected the independence of this system but thinks it is right that Paula Vennells has handed back her CBE.”

Lizzy Buchan