00:00 Would the Prime Minister be prepared personally to repeat the allegation made by his business secretary
00:06 that the former chair of the post office is lying when he says he was told to go slow
00:15 on compensation for postmasters and limp to the next election?
00:20 As the business secretary said on Monday, she asked Henry Staunton to step down after serious concerns were raised.
00:27 She set out the reasons for this and the full background in the House earlier this week.
00:32 But importantly, we have also taken unprecedented steps to ensure that victims of the Horizon scandal
00:38 do receive compensation as swiftly as possible and in full.
00:42 Making sure that victims receive justice and compensation remains our number one priority.
00:48 On Monday, the business secretary also confirmed categorically that the post office was,
00:55 and I'll quote this in fairness to the Prime Minister,
00:58 "at no point told to delay compensation payments by either an official or a minister from any government department"
01:07 and at no point was it suggested that a delay would be of benefit to the Treasury.
01:13 So that's Monday. A note released by the former post office chair this morning appears to directly contradict that.
01:22 I appreciate that the business secretary has put the Prime Minister in a tricky position,
01:26 but will he commit to investigating this matter properly,
01:31 including whether that categorical statement was correct and why,
01:37 rather than taking those accusations seriously, she accused a whistleblower of lying?
01:43 It is worth bearing in mind that, as the business secretary said on Monday,
01:47 she asked Henry Staunton to step down after serious concerns were raised.
01:52 But this is, on a matter of substance, one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history.
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