Number 10 has backed calls for Alan Bates to be knighted for his fight for justice in the Horizon scandal.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokeswoman said on Wednesday it would be “common sense” to honour him after a mass quashing of convictions was announced. Mr Bates is said have refused an OBE while ex-Post Office boss Paula Vennells still held a CBE.
She received that in 2019, in spite of the scandal. MPs and campaigners have called for Mr Bates' honour to be re-submitted now Ms Vennells has agreed to relinquish her's in the face of a public outcry.
There have also been a number of online petitions calling for Mr Bates, from Llandudno, Conwy, to be honoured, one of which has more than 80,000 signatures.
The scandal has been brought to the fore by ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office. It lasted from 1999 and 2015 and saw 736 sub-postmasters unfairly prosecuted due to a faulty IT system
Senior minister Esther McVey said she wanted to see Mr Bates knighted “as soon as possible”.
“Anybody can nominate him and I'm quite sure we will see Sir Alan as soon as possible,” the Tory MP told GB News. The prime minister's press secretary argued it was “hard to think of someone more deserving of being rewarded through the honours system than him”.
Asked if she agreed with Ms McVey about the knighthood the official said: “That sounds like common sense.” But Mr Bates told BBC Radio 4's World at One it was “not about me”.
“It's about the whole group, and it's about getting this money out to people as soon as possible, so they can try and get on with their lives and try and put this behind them,” he said. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also backed the move.
His spokesman said: “Alan Bates clearly has emerged as a hero throughout this for the way in which he has led the campaign, the fortitude and resolve he was shown given everything that has been thrown at him throughout this process.
“Obviously honours have their own independent process, but I'm sure that is something the public would regard as entirely appropriate and we would support.”
Not convinced
Meanwhile, a former sub-postmaster jailed in the Post Office scandal says he is not convinced by Rishi Sunak's latest plan. Noel Thomas, 77, from Anglesey, was locked up for false accounting in 2006 after his books fell short by £48,000.
Upon hearing that new legislation is to be rushed in to quash convictions he said he would have to “wait to see the small print”. He added he has been “promised a hell of a lot” so far only for nothing to come of it.
Plaid Cymru has called for a review of any contracts held by the Welsh government with Fujitsu – the Japanese company whose system was at the heart of the scandal.
— CutC by bbc.com
