Collecting Post Office Signature at Lancaster Market

Post Offices are the lifeblood of any community – and yet 4,000 have been shut under Labour and they are planning to close a futher 2,500 by 2009.

In Lancaster, this latest round of closures saw Higher Greaves, Ridge Square, Glasson Dock and Quernmore Post Offices shut.

In Fleetwood, the axe fell on the well used Lighthouse Post Office.

We vehemently opposed the closures as we believe Post Offices are vital institutions, as important to communities as the local school or pub.

Lancaster

In Lancaster, we organised a successful petition, collecting over 1,000 signatures against the closures.  The Shadow Minister for Post Offices, Charles Hendry, visited Glasson Dock to support our campaign, which was launched Francis Maude MP.

The Shadow Attorney General, Dominic Grieve MP, also visited the city to support the campaign.

It would be nice if Labour’s Lancashire County Council could for once take a lead from Conservative-run Essex and do something practical to help

Eric Ollerenshaw

We also challenged Labour’s County Council to follow the lead of Conservative-run Essex and help to reverse some of the cuts.

Sadly, Labour dismissed the idea.

Parliament

Nationally, we put forward a motion in Parliament calling for an end to the closures, but despite the support of 20 Labour MPs, the Government managed to narrowly defeat our proposal.

Help us make Labour listen.  Sign our petition today and become part of our campaign to save Britain’s Post Offices.

Our Plans to Strengthen Britain’s Post Offices

Charles Hendry MP and Villagers in Glasson Dock

Using Post Offices as Government GP service:

• We will investigate a scheme whereby Post Offices operate as a ‘Government GP’ for people who have concerns about Government services, including tax returns and pension entitlements.

Freeing up Sub-Postmasters:

• We will rewrite Sub-Postmasters’ contracts and allow them to provide a greater range of products and services.

Bolstering the Post Office Card Account:

• This scheme is hugely important to millions of families without access to bank accounts – and we will make changes so they can benefit from the lower utility bills offered to customers paying by direct debit.

Encouraging ‘Council Counters’:

• We will encourage local councils to see what services they could provide though Post Offices.