Ex-Post Office boss hits back after Kemi Badenoch accuses him of 'seeking revenge' for being sacked

Kemi Badenoch fiercely defended her actions, as the Post Office's Horizon scandal continues, Political Correspondent Romilly Weeks and Political Editor Robert Peston report

A former Post Office chairman has accused the business secretary Kemi Badenoch of making “an astonishing series of claims” after she told MPs he had spread “made-up anecdotes” following his sacking.

The row between Henry Staunton and Kemi Badenoch deepened on Monday after he claimed over the weekend that he had been told to stall compensation payouts for postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal.

Ms Badenoch told parliament there was "no evidence whatsoever" a civil servant told the former Post Office boss to "stall" spending on compensation ahead of the election.

In a statement to the Commons, the business secretary said it was “a blatant attempt to seek revenge” for his sacking.

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.

Hitting back later on Monday, a spokesperson for Mr Staunton said he had recorded the comment about delaying compensation “at the time in a file note which he emailed to himself and to colleagues and which is therefore traceable on the Post Office Server”.

In relation to the alleged bullying investigation, the spokesperson said: “This is the first time the existence of such allegations have been mentioned and Mr Staunton is not aware of any aspect of his conduct which could give rise to such allegations.

“They were certainly not raised by the Secretary of State at any stage and certainly not during the conversation which led to Mr Staunton’s dismissal. Such behaviour would in any case be totally out of character.”

Mr Staunton, who took up the role in 2022 was sacked by the business secretary last month.

Ms Badenoch also denied she told Mr Staunton that "someone's got to take the rap" for the Horizon scandal.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Staunton alleged a senior civil servant asked him to delay offering compensation to sub-postmasters and to "limp into the election".

In a statement to Sky News on Monday morning, Mr Staunton doubled down on his position, insisting, "I think it is pretty obvious to everyone what was really going on".

Mr Staunton said: "It was in the interests of the business as well as being fair for the postmasters that there was faster progress on exoneration and that compensation was more generous, but we didn't see any real movement until after the Mr Bates programme."

Ms Badenoch told MPs it would be “mad” for ministers to suggest delaying compensation.

"The compensation scheme which Mr Staunton oversaw has actually been completed, and my understanding is 100% of payments have been made, so clearly no instruction was given," she said.

After pressure to publish correspondence with Mr Staunton, Ms Badenoch has released notes from the meeting in which he was sacked.

Mr Staunton had claimed in The Sunday Times that he had found out about his dismissal through a phone call from Sky News.

The notes released from the meeting show Mr Staunton expressed "dismay" at being "called by a reporter" to comment on being sacked.

Ms Badenoch also confirmed she would not publish all her department's correspondence with the Post Office while the Horizon inquiry is ongoing.

The business secretary had previously taken to social media to express her frustration at the allegations.

In a lengthy post on X on Sunday night, the business secretary said his interview was "full of lies about our conversation during his dismissal".

A statement attributed to Mr Staunton, who took up the Post Office role in December 2022 following nine years as chairman of WH Smith, said: “It was in the interests of the business as well as being fair for the postmasters that there was faster progress on exoneration and that compensation for wrongly convicted postmasters was more generous, but we didn’t see any real movement until after the Mister Bates programme. We will leave it to others to come to the conclusion as to why that was the case.”

Ms Badenoch accused the Labour party of "political point scoring", after Dame Diana Johnson compared the Horizon scandal to the infected blood scandal in Parliament.

Dame Diana said there was a "pattern of behaviour', accusing the government of seeming "only to act when it's forced to, or shamed to".

Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was "really concerned" by allegations that the government wanted to delay compensation payments and therefore make "Labour foot the bill".

Ms Badenoch, who ran for the Tory leadership after the fall of Boris Johnson, is said to be the next Tory leader in the eyes of many plotters against Rishi Sunak.

While she has distanced herself from Tory plotters in the media, Ms Badenoch regularly tops the rankings for most popular Cabinet member.

Also serving as the women and equalities minister, the MP for Saffron Walden has become known for her strong views on gender identity.

What is the Post Office Horizon scandal?

The long-running battle for justice accelerated dramatically after the public outcry provoked by the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.

More than 10.3 million people have watched the final episode of the series making it one of the highest-rated TV dramas of the decade.

In 1999 the Post Office introduced digital accounting software named Horizon - created by Japanese tech firm Fujitsu - which replaced the paper-based process of the past.

But it soon became clear to some sub-postmasters that the software was creating discrepancies in their accounts, making it look like cash was missing.

A sub-postmaster is someone not directly employed by the Post Office, who runs a separate retail business which hosts a Post Office facility on their site.

The idea is that an in-house Post Office would drive customers to their business.

But many didn't - and the Post Office, which has the power to run private prosecutions, sought to have many sub-postmasters convicted of fraud and theft.

Watch the trailer for ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office

Between 1999 and 2015, 736 sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted but concerns with the faulty Horizon system were raised in court as early as 2003.

By 2012, potential problems with Horizon were so apparent the Post Office launched a review to satisfy politicians who had been complaining on behalf of their aggrieved constituents.

The Post Office however continued prosecuting sub-postmasters until 2015 but the miscarriage of justice was only confirmed in 2019 when the High Court ruled that Horizon was to blame.

A number of compensation schemes were introduced by the government and £87 million was eventually paid out through the Horizon Shortfall Scheme to more than 2,500 sub-postmasters who lost money but weren't convicted.

To date, just 93 convictions have been overturned but the government recently announced legislation which will give blanket exonerations to all those wrongfully convicted.

Have you heard our new podcast Talking Politics? Every week Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda…