MINISTERS TO MEET TO DISCUSS POST OFFICE HORIZON SCANDAL – Petition to remove CBE from ex-Post Office boss reaches one million signatures

Ministers are meeting today to discuss the Horizon scandal, as the petition to remove the CBE from ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells reached one million signatures.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk and postal minister Kevin Hollinrake will discuss the scandal in the wake of renewed scrutiny following a TV drama which tells how former sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were held liable by the Post Office for financial discrepancies thrown up by its computerised accounting system.

Meanwhile, the demands to remove Ms Vennells’ CBE reached a new milestone overnight just four days after the final episode of the drama. At the time, Ms Vennells oversaw the organisation and routinely denied problems with the system.

There are growing calls for the government to quash all the prosecutions of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses, with some even demanding the Post Office be suspended from bringing its own prosecutions.

The petition to remove Ms Vennells’ honour is addressed to Sir Chris Wormald, the chair of the Cabinet Office’s Forfeiture Committee.

Rishi Sunak has said the government is “looking at” the option of exonerating the Post Office branch managers involved in the scandal.