Further notes released on Wednesday evening, which were undated but are understood to have been written immediately after the meeting, read: “Henry noted he has never seen a corporation challenged on so many fronts (eg the network, parcel biz etc), don’t have luxury of prioritisation as every issue is a big one!
“SM (Sarah Munby) agreed that challenge is significant and that politics around POL [Post Office Limited] make this an even trickier problem to solve, the timing of agreeing a longer-term solution this way is also very difficult.”
The memo also stated that Munby had “flagged” that the relationship with the Treasury was “difficult” and that “their [the Treasury’s] view will always lean towards the ‘begging bowl’ type scenario, a dynamic worsened by horizon/inquiry costs.”
‘Sub-postmasters deserve the truth’
The Liberal Democrats called for a Cabinet Office investigation into whether Ms Badenoch broke the Ministerial Code by claiming in Parliament on Monday that Mr Staunton’s comments were “completely false”.
According to a note written after the January 2023 meeting by Mr Staunton and shared with The Times, Mr Staunton alleges that Ms Munby told him she understood the “huge commercial challenge” of the financial position facing the Post Office.
Ms Munby warned him that “politicians do not necessarily like to confront reality,” he said.
His memo recorded Ms Munby as saying that the Post Office needed to know that, in the run-up to the election, there was no appetite to “rip off the band-aid [a US term for sticking plaster]”.
“Now was not the time for dealing with long-term issues,” the memo said, and added that the Post Office needed a plan to “hobble” up to the election.
On Monday, Ms Badenoch denied he had been told to stall payments, saying there was “no evidence” to support the claim and accused him of spreading “made-up anecdotes”.
She insisted the Government had done “everything it can” to speed up payments to those wrongfully prosecuted.
Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said the Business Secretary could have potentially broken article 1.3c of the Ministerial Code, which sets out that “Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister”.
“Time and again Conservative ministers have undermined the integrity of our politics,” said Ms Cooper. “Now, this row embroiling Kemi Badenoch raises a whole series of new questions to which we urgently need answers.
“If Badenoch misled Parliament then she clearly breached the Ministerial Code.
“Sub-postmasters, who are at the heart of this whole scandal, deserve justice, financial redress and the truth.”
