A top civil servant told the ex-Post Office chairman to “hobble” into the general election and not “rip off the band aid” in terms of compensation payments to subpostmasters, it has been revealed.
After business secretary Kemi Badenoch accused Henry Staunton of lying for saying he had been told to stall compensation payouts for postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal, he unearthed a memo in which he recorded the instruction.
It revealed that Sarah Munby, who was then the business department’s permanent secretary, warned Mr Staunton that “politicians do not necessarily like to confront reality” and that “now was not the time for dealing with long-term issues”.
The revelation raises questions about Kemi Badenoch’s denial of Henry Staunton’s claims and her decision to accuse him of lying
(PA/Getty/Sky News)
The contemporaneous note of their first meeting on January 5 last year, revealed by The Times, raises questions about Ms Badenoch’s denial of Mr Staunton’s claim, as well as her decision to accuse him of lying.
It emerged after she told the Commons there was “no evidence whatsoever” of his account and branded it “a blatant attempt to seek revenge” for his sacking.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Rishi Sunak sidestepped calls to repeat Ms Badenoch’s claims the ex-Post Office chairman was lying as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for an investigation into if the government had sought to delay payments.
When asked by Sir Keir if he would say Mr Staunton had lied, Mr Sunak replied: “As the Business Secretary said on Monday she asked Henry Staunton to step down after serious concerns were raised, she set out the reasons for this and the full background in the House earlier this week.”
The emergence of the note will also add to pressure on the government to set a deadline date for payments to wronged postmasters, which business and trade committee chairman Liam Byrne has called for.
It came as Ms Badenoch was plunged into a separate political row over a claim she is engaged in trade talks with Canada, which the country says do not exist.
The business secretary told MPs “explicitly” last month that talks with Canada were “ongoing”, as a March cliff-edge for British carmakers approaches.
But the Canadian high commissioner to the UK, Ralph Goodale, wrote to the House of Commons business select committee to insist the talks have not happened, the Financial Times reported.
The row between Mr Staunton and Ms Badenoch erupted when he gave an explosive interview to the Sunday Times in which he said he was told to “stall” on compensation for subpostmasters ahead of the general election.
Staunton, who was ousted last month after less than a year in the role, said he had been told to allow the Tories to “limp into” the vote.
But Ms Badenoch hit back accusing him of “lies” and said he had been removed from his post because of “concerns over his conduct”.
She also claimed he was being investigated over bullying allegations before he was fired as chairman, and that concerns were raised about his willingness to co-operate with the probe.
At PMQs, Sir Keir said he hoped Mr Sunak would “instigate that investigation into what was said on Monday because one of the features of this miscarriage is that where concerns have been raised they have been pushed to one side”.
The Horizon scandal saw more than 700 postmasters handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Toby Jones as hero Alan Bates in the ITV drama about the Post Office Scandal which thrust it into public attention
(ITV)
Mr Staunton’s note, as reported by The Times, recounts him telling Ms Munby a month after taking his post that he “had been on over a dozen public company boards and not seen one with so many challenges”.
She was “sympathetic” with his arguments, but said that “politicians do not necessarily like to confront reality” and in the run up to a general election “ there was no appetite to ‘rip off the band aid’”.
The note suggests Ms Munby was referring to the overall finances of the Post Office, but Mr Staunton said the two biggest spending items were compensation payments and replacing the Horizon system.
The Liberal Democrats demanded an investigation by the government’s ethics advisor, suggesting Ms Badenoch may have breached the ministerial code.
Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Time and again Conservative ministers have undermined the integrity of our politics. Now, this row embroiling Kemi Badenoch raises a whole series of new questions to which we urgently need answers.
“If Badenoch misled Parliament then she clearly breached the Ministerial Code.
“Subpostmasters – who are at the heart of this whole scandal – deserve justice, financial redress and the truth.”
Ms Munby reportedly denies telling Mr Staunton to hold back on compensation for sub-postmasters.
