Lib Dems fight to save local Post Offices from Labour shutdown

11.07.00am GMT Thu 21st Feb 2008

A fifth of London's Post Offices are set to shut down under a Labour-backed plan to cut local services. The new hit list includes Post Offices used and valued by Camden residents such as South End Green, England's Lane, Crowndale Road and Highgate High Street.

Camden Liberal Democrats have vowed to continue the fight against these closures, both during and after the six-week consultation begun this week by the Post Office. 2,500 branches are set to close nationwide.

"Thousands of people have signed our petition to Save our Post Offices," said Camden Lib Dem GLA spokesperson Nick Russell. "We'll be out on the streets collecting many more signatures over the next few weeks."

"Post offices are at the heart of our local communities. People rely on their local services and to suggest closing these post offices shows a complete disregard for the needs of the local population," he added.

This local push is underpinned by a national campaign led by Lib Dem MPs in parliament, including Brent East MP Sarah Teather. The Lib Dem plan would keep Post Offices open even where they make a financial loss, and would establish a new Trust, part owned by Royal Mail employees, with the power to raise cash for investing in Post Office branches. Yet Labour are pushing ahead with the closures, allowing only a brief 6-week consultation period for those affected to make their views known.

"Only the Liberal Democrats understand that local services are core to our local communities," said Ed Fordham, Lib Dem parliamentary spokesperson for Hampstead & Kilburn. "This applies to the urban villages of London just as much as to the villages in our rural areas."

The latest closures follow 4,000 other Post Offices shut down by Labour and 3,500 by the previous Conservative government. Although local Conservatives now say they oppose closures, their party has put forward no proposals to save Post Offices or reverse Labour's shutdown if they were ever returned to power.

If you'd like to sign our Save our Post Offices petition, click on the 'Sign our Petition' section of the website.

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Or download a petition sheet and get your friends, neighbours and work colleagues to sign too. .