Rishi Sunak has added to the pressure on the former head of the Post Office to have her CBE removed in the wake of the Horizon scandal.

The prime minister’s spokesman said he would “strongly support” the Honours Forfeiture Committee if it were to look at taking away Paula Vennells’s award.

There are growing calls for Ms Vennells’s CBE to be rescinded or handed back, after ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office brought the issue back to the fore.

Politics latest: Ministers meeting over Post Office scandal

The show tells how former sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were held liable by the Post Office for financial discrepancies thrown up by its computerised accounting system Horizon, developed by Fujitsu.

The justice secretary, Alex Chalk, and postal minister Kevin Hollinrake were set to meet on Monday to discuss the next steps to address the scandal.

A public petition to remove Ms Vennells’s CBE has received more than a million signatures.

Post Office scandal: The story behind victims of faulty Horizon accounting software

Post Office scandal: Rishi Sunak pledges to ‘do everything we can to make it right’ after Horizon

Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Sunak condemns ‘appalling miscarriage of justice’ of Horizon scandal

Mr Sunak said the government “should do everything we can” to make the scandal right.

The true story behind drama on Horizon IT scandal

Speaking earlier today, the prime minister said: “These things obviously started a very long time ago, and it’s right that they’re looked at properly and the stories are appalling.

“People were treated absolutely appallingly. That’s wrong. And we should do everything we can to make it right.”

Mr Sunak said that, as chancellor, he approved the funding for the compensation to be paid to victims of the scandal.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he would support the government if it brought forward legislation to exonerate the hundreds of people who were convicted.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Crown Prosecution Service – which he used to run – should take over the cases the Post Office was involved in, so there is an “independent prosecutor looking at these cases in the future”.

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