The use of powers by parliament's business and trade committee to see the note comes amid pressure on the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, to back up claims that the former Post Office chair Henry Staunton was under investigation for bullying when she sacked him in January.
A war of words between Staunton and Badenoch - who launched an extended attack on him in parliament on Monday - erupted over the weekend after he gave an interview to the Sunday Times accusing the government of wanting to stall payments to victims compensation of the Horizon scandal until after the general election.
On Monday night Staunton, who became chair of the Post Office in December 2022, issued a stinging riposte to Badenoch, saying he had kept a record of the alleged comment from a senior civil servant asking him to stall compensation payments to Horizon victims.
A spokesperson for Staunton said that he had "recorded [it] 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".
This story is from the February 21, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the February 21, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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