Archbishops should be “held to account”, clergy have said, after it emerged that Paula Vennells held four roles within the Church of England after the Post Office scandal broke.
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 700 sub-postmasters were prosecuted after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as if money was missing from their sites.
However, fewer than 100 convictions have been overturned to date in what has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history.
Earlier this month it emerged that Paula Vennells, the disgraced former Post Office boss was shortlisted to be Bishop of London in 2017, despite suggestions having emerged at least two years earlier that postmasters may have been wrongly prosecuted.
The news prompted Queen Elizabeth II’s former chaplain, the Rev Canon Jeremy Haselock, to call for the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, to stand down amid suggestions that he endorsed the disgraced former Post Office boss to become Bishop of London – the third most senior role in the Church of England after the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
Church sources claim the Archbishop was personally supportive of Ms Vennells’ candidacy. She was the Post Office chief executive from 2012 to 2019 and handed back her CBE earlier this month.
However, it has now emerged that Ms Vennells held four roles within the Church of England after the Post Office scandal broke – including to provide officials with ethical investment advice.
In a written Parliamentary question, Chris Loder, the Conservative MP for West Dorset, asked what role Ms Vennells had in advising the Church Commissioners after 2019, and which committees she attended.
In response, Andrew Selous, the Second Church Estates Commissioner and Conservative MP for South West Bedfordshire, confirmed that Ms Vennells held four roles during the period in question between spring 2019 and April 2021.
‘Held to account’
In response, the Rev Robert Thompson, vicar at St Mary and St James’ churches in north London and General Synod member, called for Archbishops “to be held to account” over the influence she had in the Church.
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