|
MP's have made a mockery of Post Office closures - Celia Barlow's Post Office deception!
Conservatives
MP’s continued their fight to save 2,500 post offices by putting down a
motion in the House of Commons. This motion recognised the vital role post
offices play in communities, that the consultation was flawed and called
upon the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
to instruct Post Office Limited to suspend the compulsory closure of
sub-post offices while these issues are re-assessed. Already
the Richardson Road post office in Hove has closed, and yet Hove MP Celia
Barlow voted against the Conservative motion that could perhaps save
others in line to be scrapped. Mike
Weatherley, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Hove & Portslade
commented:- “I
am normally against ‘adversarial’ politics, preferring to focus on the
positive plans the Conservatives have for when we are in government.
However in this case it needs to highlighted. Celia Barlow is saying one
thing to her constituents and taking the exact opposite action in
Parliament. 20 Labour MPs did
have the courage of their convictions to vote with the Conservatives and
the Government only narrowly avoided defeat by support from the likes of
Ms Barlow who say one thing and vote a different way. “Celia
has by her voting record on this confirmed that she has no influence and
is ‘lobby fodder’ for a Government that has bankrupt this country and
is failing us more and more. Ms Barlow made promises to save post offices
in her constituency but when it came to the crunch she abandoned her
constituents. I suspect her constituents may return the favour and abandon
her at the next General election.” Brighton
and Hove City Council are watching closely events in Essex where the
County Council has put forward a plan to spend thousands of pounds to save
axed post offices. Mike
said:- “I
will be watching with interest to see how the Essex plan evolves.
Certainly Council’s saving these important services is one option
to be considered. But the
blame for post office closures in the first place lies fairly and squarely
at the Governments’ door. Decisions
by this Government have contributed to the losses being made to the post
office network. For instance, taking away services such as benefit
payments, road tax and TV licences from post office branches. “The long-term future of the network will be best secured if the post office is opened up to new markets and new customers. This would ensure that vulnerable people were closer to their post office.”
|
