A petition demanding ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells be stripped of her CBE has gathered over 100,000 signatures as new details of the scandal have come to light in ITV's four-part drama series Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
The former boss was in charge of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019, during which more than 700 sub postmasters were prosecuted for theft, fraud and false accounting in what is often described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.
Errors made by Horizon software, which was made by tech firm Fujitsu and used by the Post Office, led to financial losses in the company's accounts. Some workers lost their livelihoods, homes, and life savings as a result of paying back the money the Post Office claimed was missing.
More recently, as new details of the scandal have come to light as ITV aired its four-part drama series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, calls are now heating up to strip Vennells from her CBE for services to the organisation
Current Post Office chief executive Nick Read this week issued an apology to those affected by the scandal. He said: “As chief executive, I have met of the victims and heard first-hand many of their personal stories. Today, I reiterate and extend an apology on behalf of Post Office.”
Vennells stepped down as chief executive officer following the 2019 court trial, where the sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses sued the company. That same year, in the 2019 New Year's Honors List, Vennells received a CBE for services to the Post Office and to charity.
In 2021 she apologised for the suffering caused after 39 subpostmasters’ convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Outraged fans of the show voiced their complaints against Paula Vennells on X (formerly Twitter), with some noting that she "should be behind bars."
https://twitter.com/PMHSEQ/status/1742676846469153140
https://twitter.com/JazzIsHere54/status/1742657795269243006
