Let's briefly return to that announcement by Rishi Sunak - where, as well as new legislation, the prime minister announced a "new upfront payment of £75,000 for the vital GLO group of postmasters".

If you're wondering who the "GLO group" are, they're the collective often referred to as "the 555", who we mentioned earlier.

In short, they're a group of 555 sub-postmasters and mistresses who successfully challenged the Post Office over the Horizon accusations at the High Court in 2019.

They were subsequently not allowed to participate in the Post Office's historic shortfall scheme - and despite being awarded nearly £43m in compensation in 2019, the group's funds were swallowed up due to a "no win, no fee" agreement with Therium, the company which funded the litigation.

There have been repeated calls for them to receive some form of compensation.

Image source, ITV

Although the Horizon IT scandal has been common knowledge for some time, it 's an ITV drama - Mr Bates vs The Post Office - that has thrust the issue back into the spotlight.

It has been watched by more than nine million viewers so far, according to ITV, and since it began airing on 1 January, 50 new potential victims have contacted lawyers.

Westminster has tried to keep pace, and there is renewed media attention on the issue, marking a long-awaited breakthrough for victims.

But why now, and why in response to a TV show?

The show’s executive producer Patrick Spence sees the response in political terms: “As a country we feel unheard by our politicians and our government. And I think what this drama seems to have done is tapped into that rage."

• Read more about the impact the show has had here

Up next in the House of Commons is the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who says the Horizon IT scandal was "defended by the current leader of the Liberal Democrats" and others who've since been knighted and received peerages.

He asks: "The reality is the sub-postmasters never stood a chance against the Westminster establishment, did they?"

Sunak reiterates his earlier remarks that the scandal is "one of the greatest miscarriages of justice this country has seen" - and says the government has already established an independent inquiry and compensation scheme.

"We must go further and faster which is why we have made new announcements today," he adds.

And now we wait for the detail...published at 12:24 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January

12:24 GMT 10 January

Chris Mason
Political editor

Just a week ago the ITV drama on the plight of the sub-postmasters was still on.

Here we are, seven days later, and the prime minister stands at the despatch box, in front of a packed House of Commons, and says the government will put forward a new law to try to quickly exonerate and compensate them.

How extraordinary. The power of drama.

The momentum it has generated, the public opinion it has shifted, the government it has galvanised.

Rishi Sunak described the scandal as one of “the greatest miscarriages of justice” in the country’s history.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “huge injustice” that had deprived people of their “liberty” and “livelihood.”

We now await the detail of when and how the government will deliver on its promise.

Image source, ITV

We've just heard the prime minister commit to introducing "new primary legislation to make sure that those [sub-postmasters and postmistresses] convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated".

But what that means in practice remains unclear.

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said yesterday that a new bill to clear the names of those whose convictions still stand was receiving "active consideration" - but some legal experts had concerns that this could set a precedent for Parliament to interfere in legal matters.

In short, it's not yet clear whether the new law will auto-quash convictions (i.e. bypass evidence and judges) or introduce some kind of new process to expedite consideration of cases through the Court of Appeal.

Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake will soon be answering an urgent question in the Commons on the scandal. He said earlier the government was "very, very close" to outlining a plan - but some issues remained.

Starmer looks to expose divisions over Rwanda billpublished at 12:13 Greenwich Mean Time 10 January

12:13 GMT 10 January

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Westminster has been consumed by the Post Office IT scandal this week.

Other issues are now inevitably beginning to join the fray. You can see that from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer deciding today to ask about Rwanda, and Rishi Sunak’s views on the policy dating back to when he was chancellor.

The government is bringing its Rwanda bill - designed to get the policy of deporting asylum seekers to East Africa on a stronger legal footing - back to the Commons next week.

Robert Jenrick, former home secretary Suella Braverman and others want to amend the bill to strengthen it. This is an issue of division in the Conservative Party.

Starmer clearly wants to expose those divisions.

Moving on from the Post Office scandal, Starmer turns to the Rwanda policy.

He's referencing reports and documents from 2022 that show Sunak wanted to scale back plans to send asylum seekers to the African nation.

Starmer jokes that, under former PM Boris Johnson's premiership, a Conservative MP - a reference to Sunak - was critical of the Rwanda policy. “What happened to that MP?” he asks.

In response, Sunak says the documents being referred to have been reported second hand.

“I’ve been absolutely clear that you need to stop the boats. That’s what that MP and this government is going to deliver,” Sunak says.

Leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer is up now. He also addresses the Post Office scandal, calling it a "huge injustice".

"People lost their lives, their liberty and their livelihood," Starmer says, "and they've been waiting far too long for truth, for justice, for compensation."

He adds that he's glad the prime minister is putting together a proposal to address the victims, saying it is the "job of all of us" to deliver justice for those wronged.

Image source, UK Parliament

Sunak, in response to Anderson, says: "Today I can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure that those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated."

He goes on: "We will also introduce a new upfront payment of £75,000 for the vital GLO group of postmasters.

"We will make sure that the truth comes to light."

Sunak starts by answering a question from Tory deputy chair Lee Anderson, about the future of Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.

He says Davey has in the past called for the resignation of major political figures "who've made mistakes" in their career.

Anderson asks the PM if Davey should take his own advice and "clear his desk, clear his diary and clear off", to which there are loud jeers from the Tory benches.

For context: Davey was postal affairs minister between 2010-12 and has been under fire in the last week over his perceived failure to act at the time. He has since said he “deeply regrets not realising that the Post Office was lying to him”.

In the House of Commons, Rishi Sunak is up at the despatch box meaning Prime Minister's Questions has begun.

Stay tuned by tapping Play at the top of this page, or by following our live text updates.

Image source, ITV

Our colleagues from BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings programme have been speaking to actor Julie Hesmondhalgh.

She says the cast of the ITV drama are “astonished and overwhelmed” by the response.

“This has come out at exactly the right moment,” she says of the series, which aired on 1 January. “We are at peak lies, corruption and cronyism. We have had enough."

What should be taken from the past few days, Hesmondhalgh says, is the power the public can have.

"People were mobilised by watching the drama and their voices on social media, writing to their MPs, signing petitions, has made a real and clear difference," she says.

Image source, Janine Powell

A former Post Office branch manager has described how she was sent to prison two days after her daughter’s 10th birthday.

Janine Powell, now 52, was wrongfully accused of stealing £74,000 from her branch in Tiverton, Devon.

She was sacked before being sentenced to 18 months in prison – she served five months.

She said the hardest part had been leaving her children.

"You're stuck behind these four walls in a little room," she said. "You get phone calls to find out what's happening outside with the children."

Prime Minister's Questions will begin in 25 minutes - after Rishi Sunak's finished, a government minister will be called to the Commons to answer an urgent question on the Horizon scandal.

At 12:30 GMT we're expecting former cabinet minister David Davis to ask for a statement on "compensation and outstanding matters relating to Horizon".

You can watch and follow live with us on this page.

We earlier brought you quotes from Karen Jolliffe - a sub-postmistress who spent three months in jail after a shortfall in her accounts.

Here's the moment she called 5 Live to share her story - bringing host Nicky Campbell to tears.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

In Westminster, a document found in the House of Commons shows how Lib Dems are responding to constituents questioning Sir Ed Davey’s role in the Post Office IT scandal.

The BBC has been passed a print out of a Lib Dem MP’s draft response to emails about the issue.

Davey, now the Lib Dem leader, has found himself facing questions about the scandal because he was postal affairs minister from 2010 to 2012 in the coalition government. He has since said he “deeply regrets not realising that the Post Office was lying to him”.

The document says “if asked about Ed’s role”, Lib Dem MPs should reply by stressing “the scandal took place over many years from 1999, during which time different governments and ministers from all parties were in post".

In response to questions about Davey’s initial decision not to meet Alan Bates, the leading campaigner for postmasters, the draft email stresses that in October 2010 the pair did then meet, and that Davey “followed up, writing to him with answers he had been given by Post Office executives.

A Lib Dem spokesperson said: “This is all open to the general public already and made clear on a page on our website.”

It was a powerful hour of television on BBC Breakfast this morning, when nine victims of the Post Office scandal spoke out - and questioned government minister Kevin Hollinrake.

You can watch a 52-minute recap on the iPlayer here.

Back to 5 Live now where Karen Jolliffe, a sub-postmistress for 20 years, has called in to explain her own experience of the Horizon IT software showing a shortfall in her accounts.

“I never for a minute thought it was the computer, I thought I was doing the balancing wrong," she tells the BBC's Nicky Campbell, explaining how she had Horizon installed at her Post Office branch in 2000.

Jolliffe says, after "burying my head in the sand", she was convicted for a year and served three months in prison, followed by "three months with a tag".

Aged 63 at the time, she explains she was left feeling vulnerable and suicidal - she felt she “couldn’t tell anyone” about her experience and commends the "bravery" of the victims who've spoken to the BBC on Breakfast and 5 Live today.

"You're very brave and I wish I was braver," she tells them.

• Read more about Horizon, which is still used by the Post Office, here

Image source, PA Media

As we reported earlier, Rishi Sunak is due in the House of Commons later for Prime Minister’s Questions, where he's expected to address the Post Office IT scandal.

It’s not yet known if any announcements will be made today, though Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake said earlier that the government is “very, very close” to outlining some kind of plan.

Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, Sunak said the government was reviewing options, adding: “It is right that we find every which way we can do to try to make this right for the people who were so wrongfully treated at the time."

Momentum has only built since then, with Justice Secretary Alex Chalk telling MPs yesterday that the idea of using legislation to clear the names of the hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses whose convictions still stand is under "active consideration".

Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter

Let's take a step back from the testimonies we're hearing and remind ourselves of the roles and responsibilities of sub-postmasters and postmistress, the people at the heart of all this.

According to the Post Office, a postmaster or postmistress is the head of an individual Post Office - usually the main one in a district, town or city.

They are responsible for all postal activities in that specific office, including managing staff and ensuring efficient mail delivery and customer service. It is also "quite common" for people to run more than one Post Office, the organisation says.

Sub-Post Offices are smaller than main ones and serve as branch offices - they provide postal, financial and retail services and are run by sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses.

Sub-postmasters are self-employed and they're approved by the Post Office to act as their agents in running these smaller branches.