'I'm quite honoured by it – to be recognised for the work that I’ve done over the years'
Former sub-postmaster and Post Office scandal campaigner Alan Bates has received a knighthood in the King's Birthday Honours, revealing he learned of the honour while at the Horizon IT public inquiry as ex-boss Paula Vennells was giving her evidence.
READ MORE: Prison workers 'infatuated' with robbers smuggled 'sniff' and 'tiny phones' into jail for them Sir Alan went on to explain how he had spoken to the Metropolitan Police about the investigation into the Horizon scandal, watched some of Ms Vennells’ inquiry evidence, learned of his knighthood and saw a General Election be called in the space of a few hours.
Sir Alan added: “I just wondered whether they’d done it to divert everyone off Paula.” He was keen to address how he had previously turned down being appointed OBE – saying he did not want to offend those who had asked for him to be recognised for his work. He added: “I’m not just accepting this honour for me. I know I’m the recipient of it and all the rest of it, but it’s on behalf of the group as well – and recognition of the horrendous things that have happened to them and the story’s not over yet. And if this adds another string to my bow to help me go forward and get some finality for people in the financial settlement then so be it.”
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