BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak has announced that his government will introduce primary legislation to ensure subpostmasters who were wrongfully convicted because of the Horizon scandal are “exonerated and compensated”. 

Those convicted could have their names cleared by the end of the year.

Sunak said that the scandal is “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in [Britain's] history”.

“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. 

“We will make sure the truth comes to light, we will right the wrongs of the past, and the victims will get the justice they deserve,” the British prime minister said. 

Rishi Sunak is facing MPs for Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon in Westminster.

To the victims of the Horizon scandal. pic.twitter.com/jK9txzq9IU

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) January 10, 2024

The Government says compensation has been paid to more than 2,700 claimants, but hundreds were also prosecuted over shortfalls in their branches caused by software errors.

Another 130 people have come forward after an ITV show dramatised what has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history, postal services minister Kevin Hollinrake said today. 

A minister will be called to the Commons to provide a statement on the situation later today in response to an urgent question.

Yesterday, former UK Post Office boss Paula Vennells said she will hand back her CBE following the fall out of the scandal. 

The former chief executive, who ran the Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system, was appointed a CBE in December 2018.

It comes after demands for her to return the honour intensified after an ITV drama brought the widespread miscarriage of justice back into the spotlight.

More than 1.2 million people have signed a petition calling for her to be stripped of the honour.

More than 700 Post Office branch managers were convicted after faulty Fujitsu accounting software Horizon made it look like money was missing from their shops.

A public inquiry into the scandal is ongoing.

The usual method for overturning a conviction would be through the Criminal Cases Review Commission sending it to the Court of Appeal for a hearing.

But the unprecedented scale of the Horizon scandal means the government is pursuing  a legislative route rather than the court process.

A spokesman for the judiciary said: “Any miscarriage of justice is a matter of great concern. The criminal courts have dealt expeditiously with all Post Office appeals and will continue to do so with any further cases which are brought before them.

“Any legislation in relation to such cases is a matter for Parliament and not for the judiciary.”