Ex-Post Office (PO) boss Paula Vennells enlisted help from her husband to avoid using the term ‘glitches’ in reference to the faulty Horizon IT system, in a bid to downplay the problem across the business.

PO’s former general counsel, Susan Crichton, gave evidence in the inquiry yesterday, and revealed she’d seen emails in which Vennells had asked her husband John to give “a non-emotive word for computer bugs, glitches”.

In response, John advised the firm to refer to the known defects as “anomalies and exceptions”. Lawyers claimed that the admission exposes Vennells as influencing the ‘terminology that’s being used by the business’.

PO boss almost quit over pay, claims ex-chairman

The inquiry has also exposed other senior members of PO in recent weeks, with its former HR director claiming that when she failed to get PO boss Nick Read a 5% pay rise, he started a “deliberate campaign to defame and ostracise” her.

News of the campaign adds to claims of Read’s demanding behaviour – during the inquiry in February, former PO chairman Henry Staunton alleged that Read threatened to resign over his pay.

However, PO deny allegations of Read’s threats over pay, claiming that it has “discredited” Davies and Staunton’s claims.

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