Thursday 20 March 2008

Labour should put their money where their mouth is on Post Offices say Lib Dems

Posted by Chris:

Liberal Democrats on Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council are asking the ruling Labour bosses to look at what councils in Essex and London are doing to try to save post offices.

Four post offices in the borough are under threat as part of the Labour Government’s closure programme, in Redcar, Lazenby, Moorsholm and Charltons.

In Essex the County Council has stepped in and announced a £1.5 million plan to support post offices earmarked for closure. Negotiations are still taking place into how exactly the help will be given.

Meanwhile, other councils in Essex and London are looking at the possibility of offering post office services from council offices.

We have already seen Redcar’s Labour MP make a lot of noise over post office closures, only to vote for the closures in Parliament yesterday.

Now we will see whether Labour bosses at the Town Hall are hypocrites as well. Let’s see them take a proactive approach and look at ways in which the Council can help threatened post offices to stay open.

The Government Minister responsible has now told Post Office Ltd. that it must enter talks with councils wishing to try to save post offices. So the Labour council has no excuse for not fighting to retain these essential community services.

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