News story

30th July 2004

Top Lib Dem Visits Yate in Campaign to Back Local Post Offices

Simon Hughes MP, Steve Webb MP and local campaigners protesting against the programme of post office closures

Leading Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes was in Yate this week to meet Northavon MP Steve Webb and local activists fighting to keep post offices open.

Mr Hughes, who is currently campaigning to become the Lib Dem Party President, dropped by on Tuesday evening (July 27th) to highlight the plight of post offices across South Gloucestershire. The declining number of local post offices is part of a national trend which has seen more than a quarter of the post office network wiped out since the late 1970s. The Government will soon be announcing details of closures in the local area as part of its so-called "urban reinvention programme".

Simon Hughes pointed out that the problem had been made far worse by the Government’s policy of pressing people to have their pensions and benefits paid into a bank account rather than over the post office counter. He quoted the Prime Minister's recent answer at Prime Minister’s Question when Tony Blair admitted that “the reason for closures is that more and more people are putting the money that they get directly into their bank account”.

Commenting on Simon Hughes’ visit, Steve Webb MP said:

“I am delighted that Simon was able to come to Yate to encourage local campaigners who are fighting to keep our post offices open.

“It is time the Government understood the importance of a decent network of post offices to the local community. Local post offices can sometimes be a vital lifeline for elderly people in particular. It is a scandal that they have been allowed to decline for so long.

“I am particularly concerned about the way that the Government has been bullying older people into giving up their pension books. People should be free to choose how they want their pensions, not leant on by the Government".