Sacked Post Office boss sought REVENGE on me with ‘baseless’ claims and was facing bullying probe, Kemi Badenoch blasts
KEMI Badenoch has accused the sacked Post Office boss of seeking “revenge” on her with false smears – and vowed to block any exit package.
In a searing Commons statement, the Business Secretary also revealed Henry Staunton was facing bullying allegations when she fired him last month.
She lambasted him for making “baseless” claims about the Government’s handling of postmasters’ compensation.
Mr Staunton used an interview last weekend to allege that a senior civil servant told him to “stall” payouts for Horizon scandal victims so it could “limp into an election”.
He also alleged Ms Badenoch told him “someone’s got to take the rap” when she fired him last month.
The top Tory Minister has strenuously refuted the claims and today hit back against his “series of falsehoods”.
Ms Badenoch said Mr Staunton had been facing bullying allegations from his staff and that officials had raised “concerns” he was not cooperating with investigations.
She said: “Mr Staunton claimed that I told him that someone’s got to take the rap for the Horizon scandal and that was the reason for his dismissal. That was not the reason at all.”
Ms Badenoch added: “I should also inform the House that while he was in post a formal investigation was launched into allegations made regarding Mr Staunton’s conduct. This included serious matters such as bullying.
“Concerns were brought to my department’s attention about Mr Staunton’s willingness to co-operate with that investigation.”
Following Ms Badenoch’s denials Mr Staunton has stuck by his incendiary accusations.
Ms Badenoch vowed to release official Whitehall minutes of the call when she sacked him last month to put the record straight.
She told MPs to see Mr Staunton’s interview for what it was – “a blatant attempt to seek revenge following dismissal”.
Ms Badenoch also hit out at Labour MPs “playing politics” by weaponisng the “mad” claims.
She said officials had been working hard to “speed up” compensation for postmasters wrongly accused of stealing due to flaws in the Horizon IT system.
She said: “For Henry Staunton to suggest otherwise, for whatever personal motives, is a disgrace and it risks damaging confidence in the compensation schemes that ministers and civil servants are working so hard to deliver.”
Asked if the former chairman would get an exit settlement, Ms Badenoch said there “will be no payments to Henry Staunton”.
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.
Rishi Sunak has announced a blanket quashing of all convictions as well as compensation payouts.