Media caption, Ex-Post Office chair ‘seeking vengeance’ – Badenoch By Michael Race Business pressreporter, BBC News A row has deepened inbetween Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch and the Post Office chair she sacked, after he stated he hadactually been informed to hold-up settlement payments for sub-postmasters. Henry Staunton stated he hadactually been informed to stall payments to enable the federalgovernment to “limp into the election”, obviously to assistance state financialresources. But Ms Badenoch stated the declares were “completely incorrect” and implicated him of dispersing “made-up anecdotes”. Mr Staunton has stood by his remarks. The row veryfirst emerged at the weekend when the previous Post Office chair stated in an interview with the Sunday Times, he was informed by a senior civil servant to sluggish down settlement payments to postmasters. Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of sub-postmasters and postmistresses were incorrectly prosecuted after a malfunctioning computersystem system called Horizon made it appearance like cash was missingouton from their branches. Some sub-postmasters wrongfully went to jail, lotsof were economically destroyed. Some have consideringthat passedaway. The federalgovernment hasactually guaranteed to quash convictions and pay settlement, however issues haveactually been raised over the speed and intricacy in victims protecting monetary redress, with simply 33 declares completely settled. Mr Staunton, who hasactually been on boards of business varying from ITV to WH Smith, was selected as chair of the Post Office in December 2022, however was dismissed by Ms Badenoch last month. At the time she informed the BBC she gottenridof him after issues about Post Office governance and “the whole company design”, and stated “it simply wasn’t working”. Mr Staunton consequently informed this weekend’s Sunday Times that early on in his function, “I was informed by a relatively senior individual to stall on invest on payment and on the replacement of Horizon, and to limp, in quote marks – I did a file note on it – limp into the election”. “It was not an anti-postmaster thing, it was simply directly financials,” he stated. “I didn’t ask, since I stated: ‘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’.” Image source, UK Parliament Image caption, Henry Staunton stood down as Post Office chairman last month His remarks triggered a vital action from Ms Badenoch on social media on Sunday, before the service secretary made a declaration to the House of Commons on Monday
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