The Government is looking to exonerate hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongfully convicted during the Horizon IT scandal, Rishi Sunak has confirmed.
The prime minister said on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that justice secretary Alex Chalk was considering the action.
The Horizon scandal saw more than 700 branch managers given criminal convictions in the 1990s after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear that money was missing.
It has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history and a public inquiry into it is ongoing.
A petition to strip former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells of her CBE has now passed 850,000 signatures.
Asked if the government would remove the Post Office’s ability to investigate and prosecute, Mr Sunak said: “The Justice Secretary is looking at the things that you’ve described, it wouldn’t be right to pre-empt that process, obviously there’s legal complexity in all of those things but he is looking at exactly those areas.”
Earlier in the programme, Mr Sunak said: “Everyone has been shocked by watching what they have done over the past few days and beyond and it is an appalling miscarriage of justice.
“Obviously it’s something that happened in the ’90s but actually seeing it and hearing about it again just shows what an appalling miscarriages of justice it is for everyone affected and it’s important that those people now get the justice they deserve, and that’s what the compensation schemes are about.”
He added: “The Government has paid out about £150 million to thousands of people already.
“Of course we want to get the money to the people as quickly as possible, that’s why there are interim payments of up to, I think, £600,000 that can be made.
“There are three different schemes available and for anyone affected they should come forward.”
The Met has already been looking into potential offences of perjury and perverting the course of justice in relation to investigations and prosecutions carried out by the Post Office.
Two people have been interviewed under caution but nobody has been arrested since the investigation was launched in January 2020.
