Post Office saga deepens as probe into a second boss is revealed
THE boss of the Post Office is under internal investigation and has allegedly threatened to resign four times after complaining his salary is too low, MPs were told.
The bombshell revelations about chief executive Nick Read, whose salary is £435,000, were made yesterday during a Commons committee hearing into the Horizon IT scandal.
Former chairman Henry Staunton, sacked last month while himself under investigation, made the disclosure as he stood by his account that government officials asked him to stall compensation payments to wronged sub-postmasters.
Shocked MPs said the allegation took the already ‘unedifying’ fiasco engulfing the ‘dysfunctional’ Post Office ‘to new heights’. They also said it was further proof that sub-postmasters had been left ‘at the bottom of the pile’ and forgotten about while top officials were ‘at war’.
Asked about allegations against himself of bullying and claims that he tried to shut down an investigation, Mr Staunton told MPs: ‘What there is, actually, is Mr Read fell out with his HR director and she produced a “speak up” document which was 80 pages thick.
‘Within that was one paragraph about comments that I allegedly made. So this is an investigation, not into me, this is an investigation made into Nick Read.
‘That one paragraph you could say was about politically incorrect comments attributed to me which I strenuously deny.’
Mr Staunton, whose salary was £150,000, continued: ‘This document was actually taking a terrible toll on Nick Read.
‘He said, “I’m not being supported by the board, this is just bad news. I’m going to resign tomorrow, I’ve just had enough”.
‘The report alleges, from the HR director, not my words, that Nick was going to resign because he was unhappy with this pay.’
Mr Staunton added: ‘I must have had four conversations when he said he was going to chuck it in.’
His version contrasted with comments by Mr Read earlier at the hearing when, asked by MPs if he had ever tried to resign from the Post Office, he said under oath: ‘No. Why do you ask?’
But MPs on the committee reacted with fury. Tory MP Jonathan Gullis said: ‘Sub-postmasters and postmistresses are going to think they’re bottom of the pile when the two most senior people in the organisation are at war with their employer. This is starting to look like a complete and utter shambles.’
Independent MP Andy McDonald said: ‘Mr Staunton has lifted the lid on what we already knew was a dysfunctional organisation. But it’s been taken to new heights.’
Mr Staunton was sacked last month by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch amid not only the allegations of bullying but also claims that he had tried to bypass the recruitment process for appointing a board member.
Yesterday he told MPs that he was the victim of a ‘smear campaign’ and he dismissed the accusations he was lying or had been mistaken about being asked to stall compensation.
He had claimed he was told this by the former top civil servant at the Business department Sarah Munby in January last year.
She has disputed his version of events and Mr Read yesterday said: ‘I don’t believe it’s true.’
The committee also heard the harrowing accounts of wronged former sub-postmasters, including Alan Bates, the campaigner who inspired the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office. He dis
‘It looks like an utter shambles’
missed government officials’ insistence that the compensation process is getting ‘ faster and fairer’, saying: ‘No it isn’t. It’s very disappointing.’
A source close to Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Staunton has been nothing but a distraction. Now he tries to deflect the focus onto Nick Read.’
A Post Office spokesman said it has received complaints against ‘a number of people within the organisation – Nick is one of those employees. I am sure you will agree Post Office should investigate every complaint.’.
The official added: ‘Nick has cooperated fully.’
It was unclear last night what Mr Read is being investigated for.