- Written by Michael Race
- BBC News business reporter
Former Post Office chairman: 'I'm seeking revenge' – Badenoch
Business Minister Kemi Badenoch said the former postmaster general's claim that he had been told to delay paying subpostmasters was “completely false”.
Henry Stanton said he was instructed to stop payments to allow the government to “drag its feet into elections”, apparently to help the state's finances.
But Ms Badenoch accused him of spreading “a series of falsehoods” and providing “fabricated anecdotes”.
Stanton stands by his comments.
“Mr. Stanton is not in the habit of relying on fabrications or inventions, and he has decided to go public with the desire to ensure that the public is fully informed of the facts surrounding the multiple failures that have disappointed the nation's postmaster generals,” the statement said Monday. a statement issued on his behalf late said.
The reaction came after Mr Badenoch issued a statement in the House of Commons saying Mr Stanton's claims were a “blatant attempt at revenge following his dismissal”.
“There is no benefit in us delaying compensation,” she added. “This has no material impact on the bottom line. It would be crazy to even suggest that.”
He said there was “absolutely no evidence” that Mr Stanton had been instructed by officials to delay payments, and later added: “If that was in fact what was said, Mr Stanton himself would give evidence. It will happen,” he added.
In response, Mr Stanton's statement said he stands by the comments he made “in a file note he emailed to himself and colleagues at the time and are therefore traceable on the Post Office's servers.” .
Mr. Stanton himself added, “It would be fair to postmasters and in the interest of the industry if acquittals would proceed more quickly and compensation to wrongfully convicted postmasters would be more generous. , no real movement was seen” after the Mr. Bates program. [on ITV].
“I'll leave it to others to draw conclusions about why this happened.”
The Post Office told the BBC: “It would not be appropriate to comment on confidential emails that may or may not have been sent.”
From 1999 to 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters and postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted after a flaw in a computer system called Horizon made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.
Some subpostmasters were unjustly imprisoned, and many were financially ruined. Some people have since died.
The government has promised to quash convictions and pay compensation, but concerns have been raised about the speed and complexity of securing financial redress for victims, with only 33 cases fully resolved. It's just a charge.
Mr Stanton, who has served on the boards of companies ranging from ITV to WH Smiths, was appointed postmaster general in December 2022 but was sacked by Mr Badenoch, who said last month that tackling the issue required “a new “Leadership” is needed, he said. scandal.
“Early on, I was told by a very senior person that we were going to be stuck with spending on reparations and Mr. Horizon's replacement, and to drag our feet into the election in quotation marks — and I'm not going to file that. “I took notes – limping into the election,” he said. paper.
“It wasn't an anti-postmaster general thing, it was just a financial thing. I didn't ask, because I said, 'I'm not involved in it, I'm not voting. I’m not here to drag you down, it’s not an election.’ It’s the right thing for the postmaster general to do.”
Stanton also claimed that when he was fired, Badenoch told him: “Someone has to take over the wraps.”
image source, british parliament
Henry Stanton resigned as chairman of the Postal Service last month.
The government has denied claims of delayed compensation, and Mr Badenoch hit back at Mr Stanton's comments, calling them “disgraceful”.
He told lawmakers on Monday that he fired Stanton “because of serious concerns about his conduct as chair, including those raised by other directors on the board.”
“During Mr. Stanton's tenure, formal investigations were launched into allegations of Mr. Stanton's conduct, including serious issues such as bullying,” he said. It added that there were also concerns about the country's “willingness to cooperate.”
It added: “It is extremely unfortunate that he has chosen to spread a series of falsehoods, provide fabricated anecdotes to journalists, and leak confidential discussions.”
Regarding the bullying allegations, a spokesperson for Stanton said, “This is the first time such allegations have been mentioned.''
“Mr. Stanton is not aware of any aspect of his conduct that might give rise to such allegations,” the statement added. “These were not raised by the Secretary of State at any stage and were clearly not during the conversations that led to Mr Stanton's dismissal.
“Such behavior would be completely insane in any case.”
Late Monday, a read copy of the Jan. 27 phone call to fire Stanton was released. The newspaper said the business secretary had been briefed on “governance issues at the Post Office” and said the complaints against Mr Stanton were “very serious” and required government intervention.
Although the reading did not include the specific words “someone has to take the rap,” Stanton said he supports “the characterization of the conversation.”
Labour's shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said there were now “two completely contrasting accounts, one by the former Postmaster General and the other by the Secretary of State”.
“Only one of these explanations could be true,” he said. “What we need now is transparency and scrutiny.”
Reynolds: Trust in government 'at risk' after scandals
Labor MP Liam Byrne, chairman of the Commerce and Trade Committee, told the BBC he had approached Mr Staunton to attend next week's session.
The committee will include Nick Reid, the Post Office's chief executive, and Alan, the former sub-postmaster general whose battles with the Post Office sparked a recent ITV drama scandal and thrust him back into the spotlight. -We plan to hear evidence from Mr. Bates.
