Tue Oct 01 08:50:00 UTC 2024: ## Former Post Office Chair Accuses Organization of “Mess” and Cultural Problems

**London, UK** – The former chairman of the Post Office, Henry Staunton, has accused the organization of being a “mess” with a “huge cultural problem” and a lack of ethnic and gender diversity. Staunton, who served for 14 months before being sacked in January, made the accusations at the ongoing public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal.

Staunton claimed that senior executives at the Post Office were dragging their feet in efforts to compensate and exonerate sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted due to faulty software. He also criticized the culture of fear and risk aversion within the organization, which he believes was exacerbated by the public inquiry.

“The place was a mess that required more of my time,” Staunton said, adding that he found a culture of chaos in senior management. “My initial impression was that the Post Office and government were dragging their feet in terms of making payments for remediation… and there was no appetite at all for exoneration.”

Staunton also alleged that he was the victim of a politically motivated smear campaign after he publicly criticized the Post Office’s treatment of sub-postmasters. He denied allegations of racist and misogynistic comments made against him, claiming they were leaked to the media by a government source.

“I was deeply aggrieved at being made a fall guy for failings that I myself had been struggling to get the Post Office to address,” he said. “This was a report into Nick Read, not about me, but because I had taken the side of the sub-postmasters it was weaponized against me.”

Staunton’s testimony is the latest in a series of revelations at the public inquiry, which is examining the Post Office’s use of the faulty Horizon software and its impact on sub-postmasters. The inquiry is expected to continue for several more months.

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