No 10 very much fudging it all:
Yesterday Badenoch said that Staunton’s interview with the Sunday Times about the conversation they had when she sacked him recently was “full of lies”. Asked if No 10 agreed that Staunton was a liar, the spokesperson said:
"Obviously this referred to a conversation that she had with Henry Staunton, and you’ll have seen her words on this; she’s very clear that the interview that he gave was a misrepresentation of her conversation with him and the reasons for his dismissal.
And the government has being clear, and will refute the allegations [that it wanted to slow down compensation to victims]. The government has taken action to speed up the compensation to victims, and we’ve consistently encouraged postmasters to come forward with their claims. Any suggestions otherwise [are] not correct."
The spokesperson also refused to say whether No 10 has seen the record kept by officials of the call between Badenoch and Staunton, or whether those notes will be published.
The spokesperson said the letter sent to Staunton by the business department showed that the government did not want the Post Office to slow down the payment of compensation to post office operators. When it was put to him that the letter also showed Staunton was expected to control costs (see 9.21am), the spokesperson did not accept that this meant the government was not committed to paying compensation promptly.
Asked if he could categorically say that no one from government asked Staunton to stall compensation payments, the spokesperson said the government had sped up compensation to victims and any suggestions otherwise were not correct.