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The government is to introduce new legislation to help clear victims of the Horizon scandal.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak said the situation was one of the “greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history” and the government would act quickly to clear them.

“People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation. I can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated,

“We will also introduce a new upfront payment of £75,000 for the vital GLO [Group Litigation Order] group of postmasters,” he added. “We will make sure that the truth comes to light, we right the wrongs of the past and the victims get the justice they deserve.”

Details of the legislation have yet to be revealed.

The Horizon Post Office situation has captured public attention since the airing of the ITV drama, Mr Bates versus the Post Office. Since it aired, a petition to strip former Post Office CEO Paula Vennells of her CBE received more than 1.2m signatures, prompting her to offer to hand back the honour.

Current Post Office CEO Nick Read has issued an apology to victims of the Horizon technology scandal and urged anyone else who feels they may have been falsely accused to come forward.

The Metropolitan Police also confirmed that it interviewed two people in relation to the investigation of the Horizon situation.