Gordon's Post Office Shocker

The shock headline this week is that nearly quarter of my local Post Offices are to be shut. It comes after months of cloak and dagger secrecy by Post Office bosses. I feared the worst after getting a copy of a leaked letter saying it would be better to delay the announcement until after the May elections. That was about as cynical as it gets. But now the truth is out we will fight as hard as we can to stop these barmy closures.

In fact it could soon get even worse - the Post Office Card Account that many pensioners rely on is being put out to competitive tender. If that work is lost then even deeper cuts may be ahead. On top of that Royal Mail have come up with a plan to close Stockport's main mail sorting office and move it to Manchester. Hardly likely to speed up the service, is it?

If all this had come from Mrs Thatcher it wouldn't be such a surprise. Shutting down key services and then charging you for it comes naturally to the Tories. Giving away public assets to commercial firms, and making profit the way to judge success, not service to the community, has always been their hallmark. The real shock is that it is all being done by a Labour government. And by a Prime Minister who tries to project an image as the bread-and-butter leader, in touch with ordinary people. Gordon, you've lost the plot.

And, yes, seeing you asked, the Liberal Democrats have got a rescue plan that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and that would allow the Royal Mail postal business to flourish in the future, and leave money over to invest in our local Post Office network. Efficiency isn't all about cuts and closures - and when it comes to a public service like this, local should mean local, and we should be using the network to support communities, not undermine them.

I'm pushing for the Lib Dem rescue plan to be taken seriously in Whitehall, because it isn't good enough only to protest about closures - any mature opposition party must also say what it would do instead. That, of course, is exactly where there is such a deafening silence from the Conservatives, both locally and nationally. They haven't a clue what they'd actually do to save Post Offices, they just want your votes, please.

It's going to be a hectic campaign in the next few weeks, and if you want to join in the fight to save local Post Offices, now is the time to get in touch and or you can sign our petition online via the link below!

Save Our Post Offices Petition.