The controversy surrounding the Post Office and its former chairman, Henry Staunton, has escalated with allegations and demands for investigations. Staunton claims he was advised by the Business Dept's top civil servant in Jan last year to delay compensation payments to sub-postmasters until after the upcoming election, a directive supposedly aimed at avoiding financial scrutiny during a sensitive time. This advice was allegedly given to ensure the Post Office's financial issues were not fully exposed ahead of the election, with Staunton being told to 'hobble' into the election and not to 'rip off the band-aid', according to a memo sent to himself. These allegations have sparked outrage, leading to calls from MPs, Labour, and Lord Arbuthnot for a Cabinet Office investigation. The situation is further complicated by the memo, which Staunton says supports his claims, and a counter-statement from the civil servant involved, denying the allegations, referred to as the Sarah Munby Memo and Munby's rebuttal. Amidst this, there are also revelations of secret plans to close Post Office branches to a 'politically acceptable level', adding another layer to the scandal.
🔴 Civil servant denies telling ex-Post Office chairman to stall compensation payments. Read more 👇 https://t.co/KJowVdnRLS
Post Office scandal: civil servant rejects claims she asked to slow compensation https://t.co/L3VmaPCs8G
Civil servant dragged into fight with ex-chair of Post Office has government’s backing – for now https://t.co/v1gdsoC96b
Ex Post Office chair shares notes after disputed conversation with civil servant https://t.co/gmA9QrcHFg
And here is sacked Post Office chair Henry Staunton’s rebuttal of Munby’s rebuttal! Statement regarding the Sarah Munby Memo Mr Staunton’s recollection of the conversation was very clear. It was precisely because he felt what he was being told about the government’s view of the… https://t.co/GI3jcIxWyt
NEW Post Office closures: Secret plans to close branches across the country to “politically acceptable level” revealed in memo from former chairman https://t.co/oMan0xJpSy
Top Whitehall official releases memo saying ex-Post Office chair wrong to claim she told him to slow compensation payments - https://t.co/SU5BMFGzmU
Ex Post Office chair Henry Staunton told not to 'rip off the band aid' says memo as row deepens https://t.co/77UvmRJT6N
Henry Staunton has insisted that his memo was referring to the Horizon compensation payments when he took notes about 'ripping off the band aid' and 'hobbling' to the general election 👇 https://t.co/wwRhxiqbvB
Ex-Post Office chair told plan needed to ‘hobble’ up to election, says memo https://t.co/4NPikh8vgi
Solicitor @NeilHudgell is to again give evidence to the Business and Trade Select Committee next week, a month after outlining concerns over slow progress on Post Office compensation claims. Also giving evidence are former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton. 1/3...more follows.. https://t.co/fnDjLEHiZ1
Ousted Post Office boss says he was told to 'hobble' into election and not to 'rip off band-aid' on finances Read more https://t.co/VbA0yjuGF1
Post Office chairman told to delay compensation in election run-up, memo suggests https://t.co/LqPeYaE6ku
'What we need to see now is payment of redress to the sub-postmasters as quickly as possible' Conservative, Lord Arbuthnot reacts to the Cabinet Office investigation into allegations made by former Post Office Chairman Henry Staunton Latest➡️ https://t.co/mobWLFQMn7 📺 Sky 501 https://t.co/yDCTPt2f8m
NEW: here’s the full memo that Henry Staunton sent to himself after meeting the Business Dept’s top civil servant in Jan last year saying that the Post Office should “hobble” up to the election and “now was not the time for dealing with long term issues” https://t.co/sVArHMqjOq
The former Post Office boss was told not to "rip the band aid" off their finances as ministers believed "now was not the time for dealing with long-term issues", according to a contemporaneous note of his meeting with a senior civil servant https://t.co/fmqhope20P
🔺 EXCLUSIVE: A top civil servant told the former chairman of the Post Office to “hobble” into the election and not to “rip off the band aid” in terms of its finances, according to a memo unearthed on Tuesday ⬇️ https://t.co/z353Pl2udt
Labour has demanded a Cabinet Office investigation into allegations made by former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton, including that he was told to delay payouts to sub-postmasters ahead of the next election Read more🔗 https://t.co/6pIgIVynuu
Labour demands Cabinet Office investigation into claims made by former Post Office chair Henry Staunton Read more🔗 https://t.co/NidtabRYLn
🔴 MPs demand memo asking ex-Post Office chief to ‘slow down’ sub-postmasters’ payments https://t.co/3uyUXneShW
As the Kemi Badenoch and Henry Staunton row intensifies, both say they have emails and records to prove the other is lying over the Horizon scandal. It's remarkable how much detailed evidence the government and Post Office officials can produce when it suits them https://t.co/OGEDEAwC9b