Stop the blame games and put the Post Office scandal victims first

Editorial: As Kemi Badenoch continues to trade public blows with the former Post Office chair she fired three weeks ago, thousands of Horizon IT victims who were promised compensation payouts by her government remain in limbo. Enough is enough

Some former postal affairs ministers (it is a long list) are still in prominent positions in public life (PA)

A new drama is being staged at the Westminster Palace of Varieties, which we may call “Ms Badenoch vs the Post Office (Chairman)”. It is likely to play out for a few days at least, and will – for those who follow these political dramas closely – be entertaining.

Kemi Badenoch, the combative business secretary, is never short of self-confidence but some observers wonder if the pretty flat assertions she’s made in the Commons about the former chair of the Post Office, Henry Staunton, might have been a little rash.

She sacked Mr Staunton only three weeks ago, and her decision continues to be controversial, not least so far as Mr Staunton is concerned. He has had a distinguished career in business and does not accept Ms Badenoch’s reasons for dismissing him, nor the way in which it was done. She, in response, accuses him of spreading falsehoods – a serious allegation, made via social media and amplified under parliamentary privilege in the Commons.