"Decimation" of network in Hounslow condemned
Andrew Dakers, Prospective MP for Brentford & Isleworth, has attacked Labour's complacency in letting almost half of the constituency's post office network disappear in just three years.
Local
post offices have collapsed from 22 to 12.
Andrew
said: �The story is the same up and down the country. First, you see a
notice of �important changes to your post office' up in the window. Then
the Post Office goes through the motions of a consultation process. They
say they will listen to and consult local residents. But we all know it
is a foregone conclusion.
�Of
course, the Labour MPs in my area made vague promises to look into the
matter.
�Alan and Ann Keen - the Labour husband & wife Hounslow MPs - should be ashamed. It is shocking to think that whilst they were spending their constituents hard earned taxes on a flat in Covent Garden, our post offices were disappearing.
" I say this is not network reinvention, but network decimation. Make no mistake, for the people most dependent on those post offices: the elderly, the disabled and the less well off, the closures have been a nightmare.
�Added to this, the post office thinks that a post office within a �mile' is an acceptable �local' service.
�Post Offices are a vital part of the social fabric of our community,and Liberal Democrats remain committed to stopping further Post Office closures.�
March 7 2005