Campaigners for sub-postmasters who helped to expose the Horizon IT scandal have been made Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBEs) for services to justice.
The Horizon IT scandal saw hundreds of Post Office employees wrongfully prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after a faulty IT system falsely indicated financial discrepancies, leading to accusations of theft, fraud, and false accounting.
Castleton was found to have a £25,000 shortfall at his branch in 2004 and was made bankrupt after he lost his legal battle with the Post Office.
The Post Office apologised for the “devastating impact on so many lives” as a result of the scandal. A public inquiry into the scandal investigated the wrongful prosecutions, concluding its hearings on Dec. 17.
Efforts are ongoing to secure full compensation for victims. As of March, £179 million has been paid to approximately 2,800 claimants across 3 redress schemes.
Politics, Art and Sport
The 2025 New Year Honours List included more than 1,200 recipients across sectors that included sport, healthcare, academia, and voluntary service.Among them were London Mayor Sadiq Khan and former Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry.
Khan, who was honoured for political and public service, said he was “truly humbled” to have received a knighthood.
“I couldn’t have dreamed when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London,” Khan said. “It’s the honour of my life to serve the city I love and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all of the capital’s communities deserve.”
Andy Street, the former Mayor of the West Midlands who narrowly lost his re-election bid in May, was also awarded a knighthood. Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Tamara Finkelstein was been made a dame, following her close contention for the role of cabinet secretary in November.
The former manager of England’s national football team, Gareth Southgate, received a knighthood for services to association football. The government noted Southgate’s work with charities, such as the Prince’s Trust, in helping young people get into education, training and employment.
Actor Stephen Fry was knighted for his work on mental health awareness. Actor Eddie Marsan was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and Myleene Klass became a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
“I am shocked, delighted and deeply honoured to receive this award,” Marsan said. “I am only in this position because of the constant love and support of my wife, my family and the people I grew up with in Bethnal Green, so I share this with them all.”
The two-time Olympic medallist Keely Hodgkinson was awarded an MBE for services to athletics. Mikayla Beames, aged 18, was awarded a British Empire Medal for her charitable fundraising for children with cancer in Oxfordshire.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer thanked the honours recipients for their “incredible contribution.”
