Henry Staunton

Ministers are under pressure to explain claims by the former Post Office chairman that he was told to delay paying compensation to victims of the Horizon IT scandal.

Henry Staunton told The Sunday Times a senior civil servant asked him to stall the payments so the government could “limp into the election” with the lowest possible financial liability.

He was appointed chairman in December 2022 but then sacked by business secretary Kemi Badenoch in January 2024.

It came amid huge public outcry over the Horizon IT scandal which saw hundreds of Post Office workers wrongly accused of fraud.

Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s shadow business secretary, said Staunton’s allegations were “incredibly serious”.

“Under no circumstances should compensation to victims be delayed and to do so for party........

© HuffPost