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In the wake of the Post Office scandal uproar, the netizens' demands for Paula Vennells to return her CBE have resulted in the compliance of the former chief executive officer at the Post Office. On January 9, 2024, Vennells gave a public statement saying she would return the CBE she was awarded in 2019.
"I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system."
In light of Vennells' announcement, the netizens took to Twitter demanding the honorary CBE be offered to Alan Bates instead.
Bates was a former sub-postmaster in the North Wales branch of the Post Office and has played a key role in the Post Office's former employees' fight for justice.
Despite Vennells' statement, the CBE honor will continue to be hers until the Forfeiture Committee advises King Charles to take it back, and the King chooses to act on it.
Paula Vennells joined the Post Office in 2007 as a group network director and became a managing director in 2010. After her next promotion in 2012, Vennells became the chief executive officer of the Post Office, a position she held for the next seven years.
It was in 2019, amid the court trials after the JFSA sued the Post Office, that Paula Vennells stepped down from her position. In the same year, she received the CBE Honor for her services to charity and to the Post Office.
Netizens react to Paula Vennells handing back her CBE
According to Entertainment Daily, Alan Bates was offered an OBE in 2023, which the former sub-postmaster declined, stating it would be inappropriate when the former CEO, Paula Vennells, still holds her CBE.
A number of other users also took to X (formerly Twitter), reacting to Paula Vennells' statement, some of them demanding Fujitsu to accept the accountability for the part it played in the scandal.
Jo Hamilton, one of the former sub-postmistresses who fell victim to the Post Office scandal, expressed her approval of Vennells' decision to hand back her CBE.
"It's a shame it took just a million people to cripple her conscience," she told BBC.
The CBE stands for Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Following Knighthood and Damehood, the CBE is the third highest-ranking order in the Empire. According to the Gazette, this honor is awarded to individuals who hold a prominent role at the national level or a leading role at the regional level.
