Rishi Sunak has announced emergency legislation will be rushed through parliament to exonerate hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted in the Horizon IT scandal.
The Post Office prosecuted more than 700 workers for fraud and false accounting based on data from its faulty Fujitsu computer system between 2000 and 2015.
Only 93 of the convictions have so far been quashed.
Speaking during PMQs, Sunak said: “Today I can announce we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated.”
The PM added it was “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history”.
Under the government’s plan, sub-postmasters will sign a statement confirming they did not commit crimes.
Paula Vennells, the former Post Office boss, has handed back her CBE after a petition demanding she surrender the honour exceeded 1.2 million signatures.
A judge-led inquiry is also being held into the scandal, which hit the headlines again over Christmas thanks to the ITV drama ’Mr Bates vs the Post Office.”
Hundreds of employees received criminal records, and had to do community service, wear electronic tags or serve jail time.
Some sub-postmasters had even been trying to top up any losses showing up Horizon’s system with their own money.
The Post Office can investigate and prosecute without the police’s help.
For years, it stood by its accusations, and tackled queries about its management or its IT system through legal means, maintaining that Horizon was “robust” and that its monetary losses were not due to the faults in the system.
The stress – and sometimes bankruptcy – brought on by the case left many victims struggling with illness.
Families broke down and people were cast out of their communities.
There have been at least four suicides linked to the scandal.
Dozens of branches took part in the pilot Horizon scheme in the 1990s, so there is a chance more victims could come forward.