The row over compensation for wrongly convicted postmasters returned to parliament again today. Kemi Badenoch, the Business Secretary, is currently embroiled in a war of words with Henry Staunton, the man whom she sacked as chairman of the Post Office. He claims that he was told to delay compensation to victims of the Horizon scandal; she denies this and insists Staunton ‘had a lack of grip getting justice for postmasters.’

It was left to the Business Committee to try and establish the veracity of the pair’s claims. Oral evidence was this morning submitted by officials in the Department for Trade. The panel of MPs heard from Carl Creswell, who oversees compensation payments for Post Office operators. He said that, if there had been any order to delay, ‘someone would have mentioned it to me’ adding emphatically this was ‘Not at all’ the case. He insisted that he had worked ‘very closely’ with Sarah Munby, the permanent secretary whom Staunton alleged had told him to delay payouts.

Creswell also backed Badenoch’s claim that there had been bullying allegations against Staunton

‘Every conversation I had with her, with ministers, with other senior civil servants in other parts of government,’ Creswell continued, ‘have all been about how we can pay out this money more quickly, so, no, that is completely incorrect, that assertion.’ Creswell’s evidence today comes after Munby last week wrote a rare public letter to Henry Staunton, denying that any such instruction to delay compensation was made. She added that the funding discussed in the meeting cited by Staunton was in fact operational funding, not compensation funding which is ring-fenced.

Creswell also backed Badenoch’s claim that there had been bullying allegations against Staunton when she sacked him as Post Office chairman. The official said this morning that he had been ‘explicitly’ told officials would resign if Staunton had not been removed from the Post Office and revealed he was told the claim by one individual on behalf of two members of the board. ‘The level of anxiety about Mr Staunton’s behaviour was such that we might see resignations from the board,’ continued Creswell.

This morning’s evidence session will likely be hailed by Badenoch’s allies as a vindication of the bold stance she took last week in parliament. For those outside Westminster, attention will likely focus on one of the witnesses who succeeded Creswell: Alan Bates, the hero of last month’s ITV series. He attacked the culture of the Post Office, deriding it as a ‘dead duck’ and ‘a money pit for taxpayers’. On that, most politicians across the House can certainly agree.