Former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton has claimed he was told to stall Horizon scandal compensation payments to help the government “limp into the election”.
The ex-WH Smith chairman, who was appointed in 2022, made the claim in an interview with The Sunday Times, where he also suggested that the organisation is still a “mess” and affected by a “toxic” atmosphere.
Staunton, who was sacked by the government last month, told the paper: “Early on, I was told by a fairly senior person to stall on spending on compensation and on the replacement of Horizon, and to limp, in quotation marks – I did a file note on it – limp into the election.
“It was not an anti-postmaster thing, it was just straight financials. I didn’t ask, because I said, ‘I’m having no part of it – I’m not here to limp into the election, it’s not the right thing to do by postmasters.’
“The word ‘limp’ gives you a snapshot of where they were.”
A government spokesperson told the paper: “We utterly refute these allegations. The government has sped up compensation to victims, and consistently encouraged postmasters to come forward with their claims.”
They added: “To suggest any actions or conversations happened to the contrary is incorrect. In fact, upon appointment, Staunton was set concrete objectives, in writing, to focus on reaching settlements with claimants – clear evidence of the government’s intent.
“The secretary of state asked Staunton to step down as chairman of the Post Office because a change in leadership was needed.”
It comes after the Fujitsu-supplied Horizon IT software scandal sparked fresh headlines amid outrage following the broadcast of ITV drama ‘Mr Bates vs The Post Office’ earlier this year.
Ministers announced new legislation to overturn all convictions related to the scandal in the wake of the drama, which Staunton described to the Times as “and then the dam broke”.
The saga continues to rumble on, while hundreds of wrongly convicted sub-postmasters and postmistresses appeal their prosecutions and pursue compensation, with Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake announcing £600,000 upfront to those wrongfully convicted.
Staunton, 75, also told the Times that widespread suspicion still exists within the Post Office that employees were “digging into the [till] drawers”.
He said the three separate pre-existing compensation schemes had not been properly administered, and were “terribly bureaucratic”, “terribly pedantic”, “terribly unhelpful” and “terribly unsympathetic”.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Staunton’s allegations were “incredibly serious”, adding that the scandal is “widely accepted to be one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history”.
He stressed: “Under no circumstances should compensation to victims be delayed and to do so for party political purposes would be a further insult to sub-postmasters.”
While the Post Office told The Sunday Times it was “very aware of the terrible impact from this appalling scandal and miscarriage of justice” and “refutes both the assertions put to us and the words and phrases allegedly used”.
The government, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Post Office were contacted for comment.