Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government will pass laws to ‘exonerate’ the victims of the Post Office scandal.
During Prime Minister’s Questions today, Sunak said the government will implement primary legislation to ensure former Post Office workers falsely accused of theft are exonerated.
Sunak described the scandal as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in history.
An inquiry into the scandal is currently underway and almost £150 million has already been paid in compensation to the victims, Sunak said.
Compensation has been made available to victims of the scandal through the Horizon Shortfall and Overturned Convictions schemes.
Sunak has announced an additional compensation payment of £75,000 for each victim.
Fujitsu, the Japanese company that created the faulty Horizon software systems that led to false convictions, will also need to pay compensation to victims, pensions minister Mel Stride on the radio this week.
The Horizon software was developed by British company ICL, which was bought by Fujitsu in 1998.
The former boss of the Post Office, Paula Vennells, meanwhile, said she would return her CBE following protests over the scandal.
The Conservative party’s deputy chair Lee Anderson has called for the resignation of Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey who was in charge of postal affairs from 2010 to 2012.
Notably, Davey has personally called for the resignation of over 30 people over mistakes made in the Post Office scandal.