Patrick Bourke said he regretted the ‘florid language’ he had used in the briefing note.
Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells was briefed to not allow the “self-indulgence of a number of malcontents” to “pollute our public service mission” ahead of a meeting with MPs.
The inquiry was shown the briefing note, which was prepared by Mr Bourke for Ms Vennells ahead of a meeting with a group of MPs following a telephone call with Lord Arbuthnot in October 2014. “While the issue being championed by MPs may seem important to them in campaign terms, this pales into insignificance to the bigger, social, mission of the Post Office and your leadership of it, not to mention the literally thousands of people who depend critically on our services.
The witness was then questioned on the language he had used in the document, which continued: “There must be limits: we cannot accommodate the self-indulgence of a number of malcontents to the continuing detriment of our customers. Mr Stevens said: “So when you are referring to the malcontents, are they the people in the mediation scheme?”
“So I think there was a sense in which, in the absence of evidence, to continue pursuing a line which relied on a theoretical possibility rather than the facts in front of us, seemed to me to be somewhat self-indulgent.”
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