Death of the Post Office?

Over 6,000 Post Offices, including one in every three in Chesterfield and Staveley, have already been closed down - mostly by the policies of Brown and Blair. Now the future of the remaining 14,000 is in grave danger.

The Labour Government has undermined the viability of the network by driving Government business away. Pensions and Benefits are now mostly paid directly into bank accounts instead of via the Post Office. Many elderly people, including my Mother in Law in Chesterfield and my 80 year old mother in Sheffield were forced down this route against their will. Now those who switched to a Post Office Card Account are being told that that too will be closed down.

Other business is being lost too. The Government is starting to push everyone into renewing their car tax on-line. Fine for many - but there are still many who are not comfortable using the web in this way. Of course this is another disaster for sub post offices that will see yet another fall in trade as with the loss of TV Licence stamps.

In a debate in Parliament called by the Liberal Democrats on Monday 16th Oct I pointed out that urban post offices are often just as important to the local community as rural ones are. Housing estates in Chesterfield and Staveley can be just as poorly served by privatised bus services as villages are. In reply the Minister simply read out a long list of reasons why many more post offices may close in the near future.

On Wednesday 18th Oct thousands of sub post masters descended upon Parliament to lobby for their future. I met with one from Chesterfield who had arranged to come and see me. If the Government were to encourage the development of new business in post offices instead of rapidly closing every avenue down, then the network could be saved. The Government reaction however seems to clearly be that the Post Office network is doomed and they will continue to help dig its grave.