GB News host Bev Turner has said it is “vindictive” to demand former Post Office boss Paula Vennells returns £3m in bonuses and pension.
The shamed former Post Office chief yesterday handed back the CBE she was awarded in 2019.
The Horizon IT scandal, which saw hundreds of postmasters wrongfully prosecuted, has ultimately costed her the honour.
Vennells, 65, earned as much as £5million while in charge during the scandal.
Bev Turner has criticised 'vindictive' calls for Vennells to return her bonuses
GB NEWS / PA
According to GB News presenter Bev Turner, making her accountable for the whole affair screams of “tokenism”.
“I think it is a little vindictive”, she said.
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“The thing I wonder, there is clearly a lot of people culpable here.
“I don’t like it when it is just one person. I hate to say it, but it is often the women who get hung out to dry.
“She was the boss, but I think it could be a little bit of tokenism to have her swinging from this giant hook.”
Co-host Andrew Pierce was of the opinion that Vennells should be handing back the hefty sums of money.
Those impacted by the Post Office Horizon scandal could get compensation GETTY “Were her bonus predicated on the fact that they clawed all this money back from these postmen and women, it would have run to millions”, he said.
“Were the books cooked in a sense on the back of these postmen and women?
“She should give the money back.”
Pierce showed no sympathy in the face of questions about whether Vennells would be able to afford dealing with such a clawback, adding she should “flog her house”.
In a statement, Vennells said: “I continue to support and focus on co-operating with the Inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months.
“I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the Inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.
“I am, however, aware of the calls from subpostmasters and others to return my CBE.
“I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.
“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.
“I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the Inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”
It comes as plans to clear the names of hundreds of Post Office branch managers wrongly convicted in the Horizon IT scandal will be announced “imminently”.
Rishi Sunak will face MPs for Prime Minister’s Questions and is under pressure to set out how the Government will exonerate hundreds of subpostmasters accused of swindling money as a result of the flawed computer system.