Post Office under pressure to hand over memo to 'slow down' compensation

‌Mr Staunton has alleged a senior civil servant told him to stall spending on compensation for victims of the Horizon scandal to allow the Government to “limp” into the election, and said he had made a note of the alleged remark. ‌The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “If such a note exists, we obviously would encourage the Post Office to share it so it can be investigated and take any action as necessary.”‌ On Monday night, Mr Staunton revealed he had kept a record of the alleged comment from a senior civil servant. ‌A spokesman said he “recorded at the time in a file note, which he emailed to himself and to colleagues and which is therefore traceable on the Post Office server”. ‌“He has lost access to that email because he was locked out of his Post Office email after he was sacked.” ‌When the Telegraph asked if Mr Read would be releasing the memo, a Post Office spokesman said: “It is not appropriate for us to comment on confidential emails that allegedly may or may not have been sent.” ‌Mr Byrne said: “I’m afraid that there is talk in Westminster about whether the department has gone slow in order to put the financial liabilities on the other side of the election, and I very much hope that’s not true.