After the release of Mr Bates vs The Post Office on ITV recently, a petition calling for former Post Office boss Paula Vennells to lose her CBE over the Horizon scandal has gone viral.

It attracted more than one million signatures just after midnight on Monday (January 8).

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 Post Office branch managers were given criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their shops.

Ms Vennells oversaw the organisation while it routinely denied there were problems with its Horizon IT system.

The demands for the Honours Forfeiture Committee to remove her CBE have emerged once again after the scandal, which has been described as “the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.”

How to sign the Post Office scandal petition in the UK

The petition, which is addressed to Sir Chris Wormald, the chair of the Forfeiture Committee, says: “Evidence has been produced that the Post Office engaged in a mass cover up which led to the wrongful prosecution of 550 Post Office Staff many of whom were subsequently jailed, bankrupted and in some cases, sadly took their own lives.

“Having been handed a CBE for services to the Post Office, and moved out into other senior positions in government and healthcare, it is only right that this award is now withdrawn through the process of forfeiture.”

You can view the Post Office scandal petition on the 38Degrees website here.

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Is the Post Office privatised?

The Post Office is wholly owned by the government and a public inquiry into Horizon is ongoing.

The government operates around 11,500 post offices across the UK, according to We Own It.

Royal Mail is owned by private shareholders, and runs the collection, sorting and delivery of post.

There has been fresh public backlash to the scandal after ITV aired Mr Bates vs The Post Office starring actor Toby Jones last week.

Reports suggest since the series was broadcast, 50 new potential victims have approached lawyers.


The Post Office scandal: What is it and has anyone been held accountable?