Campaigners say: No Post Office closures!

NEXT YEAR 2,500 post offices face closure nationally. Opponents of this attack are organising a protest outside the national Post Office administrative buildings in Chesterfield on 16 November. Post offices are being leafleted and people urged to show their anger at the loss of this vital local service.

A Derbyshire local campaign is taking legal advice on challenging the sham Post Office public consultation process. Campaign spokesperson and Socialist Party member Jon Dale says: "The Post Office made up their minds before announcing the closure hit list and are just going through the motions. We know of over 1,500 individual objections in the Bolsover area alone.

"The highly-paid executives carrying out these government instructions never need to use local post offices themselves. They're prepared to deprive pensioners, the disabled and local small businesses of these offices. Sub-postmasters and mistresses know their community and provide a vital service. Profit-making banks and supermarkets won't provide this service and that's where the government is driving post office business."

In Lincolnshire, around 40 representatives of different campaigns met on 8 November to discuss how to unite against these cuts, Marc Glasscoe and Lucy Hubbard report:

"Lincolnshire could be drastically affected. Many rural communities depend on the local post office as a lifeline, particularly for elderly and vulnerable people.

"When four post offices closed in Lincoln in 2004, St Peter at Gowts post office was suggested as an alternative site for people who lost their local service. So which post office are they closing in 2007? St Peter at Gowts!

"The anger in the meeting was tangible. Lincolnshire Socialist Party members argued for a united campaign by all affected communities to oppose all cuts and closures, while pushing for a strong demonstration against the closure of such a vital service.

"Lincolnshire Post Guardians, a fragile alliance of local campaigns, primarily led by small business people, the church and local Tories, was formed. Lincoln Socialist Party will support campaigns aiming to stop the constant attacks on our public services, while making it clear that only a system based on need and not profit can provide a lasting solution."