Henry Staunton: Former Post Office chairman investigated over bullying before dismissal, Kemi Badenoch claims
Kemi Badenoch has said former Post Office chair Henry Staunton was being investigated over bullying allegations before his dismissal – as she accused him of seeking “revenge” against the government.
The business secretary told the Commons that allegations regarding Mr Staunton’s conduct, including “serious matters such as bullying”, were being examined and concerns had also been raised about his “willingness to co-operate” with the formal investigation.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Badenoch 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,” she said. “That was not the reason at all.
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“I dismissed him because there were serious concerns about his behaviour as chair, including those raised from other directors on the board.
“My department found significant governance issues, for example, with the recruitment of a new senior independence director to the Post Office board.”
But shortly after Ms Badenoch made her statement, a spokesperson for Mr Staunton released a fresh statement hitting back at the “astonishing” claims, saying it was the “first time the existence of such allegations have been mentioned”.
“Mr Staunton is not aware of any aspect of his conduct which could give rise to such allegations,” they added.
“They were certainly not raised by the secretary of state at any stage and certainly not during the conversation which led to Mr Staunton’s dismissal. Such behaviour would in any case be totally out of character.”
The heated exchange came after Mr Staunton, who was dismissed from his post last month, claimed in an interview with The Sunday Times that he was told to delay pay-outs to sub-postmasters ahead of the next general election due to concerns about costs.
Speaking in the Commons, Ms Badenoch said the claim was “completely false” and accused Mr Staunton of seeking “revenge” after he was sacked.
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Henry Staunton
‘Pretty obvious to everyone’
Mr Staunton stood by his claims about stalled compensation this evening and earlier told Sky News it “pretty obvious what was really going on” following the government denials.
Mr Staunton said there was “no real movement” on the payouts until after the airing of the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office earlier this year.
He added: “It was in the interests of the business, as well as being fair for the postmasters, that there was faster progress on exoneration and that compensation was more generous, but we didn’t see any real movement until after the Mr Bates programme.
“I think it is pretty obvious to everyone what was really going on.”
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But Ms Badenoch told MPs this afternoon there was “no evidence whatsoever that this is true”.
“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,” she said.
“I would hope that most people reading the interview in yesterday’s Sunday Times would see it for what it was: a blatant attempt to seek revenge following dismissal.”
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Post Office scandal: New concerns
As the war of words between the pair ramped up, opposition parties demanded the government release all documents relating to Mr Staunton’s sacking to provide clarity on the allegations.
In his interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Staunton claimed that when he was sacked Ms Badenoch had told him “someone’s got to take the rap” for the Post Office scandal – and that he was offered no apology for learning about his dismissal from Sky News.
A readout of a call between the pair, seen by Sky News, shows that Ms Badenoch did apologise, but only for the call being at short notice.
‘Truly shocking’
As well as denying the claims, the business department also published a letter sent to Mr Staunton after his appointment which said one of his priorities should be to resolve historic litigation issues relating to the Horizon software.
However, Labour described the allegations were “truly shocking” and said there were “clear discrepancies” in the accounts of Mr Staunton’s short time as chairman.
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Post Office accused of cover-up
Mr Staunton became chairman of the Post Office in December 2022, but he was ousted last month as the government reeled from the backlash of its handling of the Horizon scandal.
This saw hundreds of sub-postmasters prosecuted because of discrepancies in the Horizon IT system between 1999 and 2015, in what has been called the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history.
The airing of Mr Bates Vs The Post Office last month led to widespread outrage and promises from the government to introduce a new law to exonerate all victims and speed up the compensation process.
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Appearing opposite Ms Badenoch in the Commons, shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the revelations in The Sunday Times “could not be more serious”.
He singled out the claim that the Post Office was “instructed to deliberately go slow on compensation payments” to wrongly convicted sub-postmasters to save the government money ahead of an election.
He added it would be a “further outrageous insult to a scandal that has already rocked faith in the fairness of the British state”, if true.
Mr Staunton claimed he received the direction from a senior figure in Whitehall, but a spokesman for the government said on Sunday it “utterly” rejected the claim and said Mr Staunton was given “concrete objectives” to focus on reaching settlements.
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Politics
Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy – as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the “vast majority of farmers” will not be affected by changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) ahead of a protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a 20% inheritance tax that will apply to farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, where they were previously exempt.
But the prime minister looked to quell fears as he resisted calls to change course.
Speaking from the G20 summit in Brazil, he said: “If you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3m before any inheritance tax is paid.”
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The comments come as thousands of farmers, including celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson, are due to descend on Whitehall on Tuesday to protest the change.
And 1,800 more will take part in a “mass lobby” where members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet their MPs in parliament to urge them to ask Ms Reeves to reconsider the policy.
Speaking to broadcasters, Sir Keir insisted the government is supportive of farmers, pointing to a £5bn investment announced for them in the budget.
He said: “I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.
“They will be affected by the £5bn that we’re putting into farming. And I’m very happy to work with farmers on that.”
Sir Keir’s spokesman made a similar argument earlier on Monday, saying the government expects 73% of farms to not be affected by the change.
Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK’s 209,000 farms would be affected, according to Treasury calculations.
However, that number has been questioned by several farming groups and the Conservatives.
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Government figures ‘misleading’
The NFU said the real number is about two-thirds, with its president Tom Bradshaw calling the government’s figures “misleading” and accusing it of not understanding the sector.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the policy could affect 70,000 farms.
Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore accused the government last week of “regurgitating” figures that represent “past claimants of agricultural property relief, not combined with business property relief” because he said the Treasury does not have that data.
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Agricultural property relief (APR) currently provides farmers 100% relief from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land or pasture used for rearing livestock or fish, and can include woodland and buildings, such as farmhouses, if they are necessary for that land to function.
Farmers can also claim business property relief (BPR), providing 50% or 100% relief on assets used by a trading business, which for farmers could include land, buildings, plant or machinery used by the business, farm shops and holiday cottages.
APR and BPR can often apply to the same asset, especially farmed land, but APR should be the priority, however BPR can be claimed in addition if APR does not cover the full value (e.g. if the land has development value above its agricultural value).
APR and BPR can apply to farmland, which the Conservatives say has been overlooked by the Treasury in compiling its impact figures. File pic: iStock
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Mr Moore said the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” due to the lack of data on farmers using BPR.
Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said last week1,400 farmers in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and will not be able to afford to pay the tax as many are on less than the minimum wage despite being asset rich.
Politics
Cabinet split over assisted dying as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson latest to reveal she will vote against bill
A split is emerging in the cabinet, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson revealing she will join several of her colleagues and vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying.
Ms Phillipson told Sky News she will vote against the proposed legislation at the end of this month, which would give terminally ill people with six months to live the option to end their lives.
She voted against assisted dying in 2015 and said: “I haven’t changed my mind.
“I continue to think about this deeply. But my position hasn’t changed since 2015.”
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Details of end of life bill released
MPs will be given a free vote on the bill, so they will not be told how to vote by their party.
The topic has seen a split in the cabinet – however, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has yet to reveal how he will vote on 29 November.
Ms Phillipson joins some other big names who have publicly said they are voting against the bill
These include Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Border security minister Angela Eagle is also voting against the bill.
Senior cabinet members voting in favour of assisted dying include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Science Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.
The split over the issue is said to be causing friction within government, with Sir Keir rebuking the health secretary for repeatedly saying he is against the bill and for ordering officials to review the costs of implementing any changes in the law.
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Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called for a cost report into assisted dying. Pic: PA
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates has been told Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff, is concerned about the politics of the bill passing.
He is understood to be worried the issue will dominate the agenda next year and, while he is not taking a view on the bill, he can see it taking over the national conversation and distracting from core government priorities like the economy and borders.
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Details of the bill were published last week and include people wanting to end their life having to self-administer the medicine.
It would only be allowed for terminally ill people who have been given six months to live.
Two independent doctors would have to confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge would have to give their approval before it could go ahead.
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