A petition calling for former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE is approaching 500,000 signatures following the final episode of an ITV1 drama about the sub-postmasters scandal on Thursday evening.
Mr Bates vs The Post Office looks back at the scandal that led to more than 700 Royal Mail staff being prosecuted between 2000 and 2014 over incorrect information in the service's computer system. Sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting, some of whom were subsequently convicted and imprisoned.
Vennells, who was CEO of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019, oversaw the organization while it routinely denied there were any problems with the Horizon IT system. In the 2019 New Year list, she was awarded a CBE "for services to the Post Office and to charity". In 2021, she said she was "truly sorry" after the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions of 39 workers who fell victim to bugs in the agency's Horizon software, made by Fujitsu.
The post office reached a settlement with 555 workers in 2019, but some died before they could ever see justice. An independent public legal inquiry will continue this year.
An online petition calling for Vennells to be stripped of her title was started three years ago and received little attention at the time. However, after ITV's show hit the airwaves, signatures have soared, surpassing the 300,000 mark after the drama's final episode on Thursday evening. The total was more than 350,000 on Friday morning and continued to rise in the afternoon, reaching 468,000 at 2:45 p.m.
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The petition states that despite initially pledging "full cooperation" with an independent investigation into the scandal, the Post Office "subsequently withheld documents from the investigation and accused the agency of a "cover-up."
It details how the Post Office failed to cooperate with Second Sight's independent investigation. According to a 2015 report by Private Eye, the Post Office fired the organization and ordered the destruction of remaining evidence a day before the final report was due to be published.
"Having been awarded a CBE for services to the Post Office and transferred to other senior positions in government and healthcare, it is only right that this award is now revoked through the forfeiture process," the petition concludes.
Since ITV aired his show, there have been calls for Vennells to hand back her CBE, including Business Secretary Kevin Hollinrake, whose remit includes the postal services. He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "Ultimately you are responsible for what happened here, you are the CEO. If I were Paula Vennells I would seriously consider voluntarily handing that back at this time."
Meanwhile, Alan Bates himself, the Welsh sub-postmaster at the heart of the ITV drama, revealed how he turned down an OBE because it didn't feel right to accept it while Vennells still had her title. He told BBC Breakfast: "If I were to accept it it would be on behalf of the whole group, but to accept it would have been a slap in the face when Paula Vennells is still holding on to her CBE - for services to the Post Office. due to poor service to the post office I would understand."
While this may not be as symbolic as losing a title, the current Post Office boss has said he will return all his bonus payments related to the Horizon investigation. Nick Read again apologized for "procedural and administrative errors" in linking significant bonus payments to work related to the investigation.
He said he would pay back this part of the £455,000 bonus he received in 2021/2022, which equates to £54,400.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer refuse to back calls for Vennells to lose CBE
Rishi Sunak commented on the scandal on Thursday, adding that the government has no role in the possible abolition of Vennells' CBE. The Prime Minister said an independent process is being conducted by the Honors Forfeiture Committee, which is separate from the government.
He added: 'But more broadly my job is to make sure that we put in place the compensation schemes and that all those people who have been treated horribly, suffered a terrible miscarriage of justice, get the justice they deserve.' I am pleased that we are making that happen, and I would urge anyone affected by this to come forward and ensure they can benefit from these schemes."
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer also stopped short of calling on Vennells to hand back her CBE. He told ITV News: "I thought that program was very powerful in exposing a scandal, a miscarriage of justice on a very large scale. I know a number of people who have dealt with this, and I know the impact it has had on their mental health as much as anything else.
'Whether she gives back her award is really a matter for her. But I think in many ways there is a more important point here: compensation for these victims is overdue. That had to take place in December. The Treasury has... set aside the money, but the government hasn't paid it.
"So I say to the government: go ahead and do the right thing and pay compensation to the victims of this miscarriage."
Watch: Wrongfully convicted sub-postmaster says Paula Vennells 'ruined a great institution'ITV drama 'brings it all back'
Those affected by the scandal have spoken of the emotion the airing of the series has stirred, bringing back difficult memories.
Pam Stubbs, who ran Barkham's post office in Berkshire and is portrayed in the series, said she burst into tears when she saw it. She told Bracknell News: "I'd already seen it at a pre-screening and I ended up in tears. It didn't make it any easier watching it at home. It's hard to watch."
She added: "Several people in the village have told me they found it very difficult and had to switch it off. They said it was absolutely heartbreaking."
Deirdre Connolly said the drama "brought everything back" and told the BBC: "It's been very, very difficult for a lot of people." Connolly previously described how she was told to plead guilty and forced to pay back a difference of more than £15,000 that she did not owe, forcing her family to remortgage their home and be declared bankrupt.
She said her health has deteriorated and she now has epilepsy, which she believes was caused by stress. She told the BBC: "The stigma of it all was just terrible. My life will never be the same."
Drama has 'opened people's eyes to the scandal'
Despite heartbreak resurfacing as a result of the attention that followed the series, some affected have praised ITV's new show for giving many of the victims of the Post Office scandal a bigger voice.
Noel Thomas, 77, from Anglesey, who was wrongly jailed for false accounting in 2006, says the program has helped share the story with a wider audience. He told BBC Breakfast: "I think it will bring something home to a lot of people."
Thomas, whose conviction was overturned in 2021, added: "We were a small unit of about 500 people but it hasn't really gotten out yet and hopefully this program will reach more viewers. It's been 18 years. It's been hell for me for years and it's been hell for a lot of people."
Peter Worsfold, who ran a post office in Muirtown, Iverness, was sacked in 2002 after a Horizon glitch revealed £3,000 was missing. He also praised ITV's four-part drama, but added that it was difficult for him and his family to watch.
He told the Press and Journal: "The characters they make play the roles are true to life. They really made an effort to find the right people and situations.
"There are things in the program that people didn't understand, for example that the post office could prosecute you and they didn't have to go to the police. I think that would have opened a lot of people's eyes."
