SUBPOSTMASTERS have been "dealt a further blow" after new claims from the former chairman of the Post Office revealed the organisation was urged to stall spending on compensation for Horizon victims, the SNP have said.
SMP MP Marion Fellows, a leading campaigner on the Horizon scandal, said the claims represented a scandal in themself, and urged the Tories to end the "culture of secrecy and cover-ups" within the Post Office.
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch has rejected a series of claims made by former chairman Henry Staunton.
Staunton, who was sacked by the Business Secretary last month, used a Sunday Times interview to suggest that the alleged request was linked to concerns about the cost of Horizon scandal compensation heading into the election.
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Commenting, Fellows said: “These claims are seismic – and whether or not they are true, they reveal that there’s still a culture of cover-up and secrecy in the Post Office.
“The idea the government stepped in to delay or stall payments is a scandal in itself and speaks to the lack of urgency the Tories hold. These reports are a disgrace and just go to show how little they really care about those who were affected.
“Thousands of lives were ruined by the Horizon scandal - it’s incumbent on this UK government to make sure Fujitsu and the Post Office cough up to pay compensation to those who were affected.
“It shouldn’t have to take multiple calls and a TV drama for justice to be served, but this government has yet to act to make sure it is.
“They can’t delay any longer - already too many people whose lives and livelihoods were ruined by this scandal have passed away without ever seeing justice or the acknowledgment from those who accused them of wrongdoing that they were innocent all along.”
Staunton took up the Post Office role in December 2022 following nine years as chairman of WH Smith.
Speaking in the Commons, Badenoch accused Staunton of making “completely false” accusations and said it had confirmed in her mind that “I made the correct decision in dismissing him”.
Badenoch reiterated her denial of the claims, adding: “There would be no benefit whatsoever of us delaying compensation.
“This does not have any significant impact on revenues whatsoever. It would be a mad thing to even suggest, and 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.”
While Badenoch said the UK Government would not publish all relevant correspondence between the Government and the Post Office due to the ongoing inquiry, she did say that ministers would “consider publishing correspondence between departments and Staunton in accordance with Freedom of Information rules”.
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More than 700 branch managers were prosecuted by the Post Office between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as though money was missing from their shops.
Hundreds of subpostmasters and subpostmistresses are still awaiting compensation despite the Government announcing that those who have had convictions quashed are eligible for £600,000 payouts.
Staunton, in his newspaper interview, said: “Early on, I was told by a fairly senior person to stall on spend 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.”
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