Views
Fighting to preserve our post offices in rural areas - for The Inverness Courier
THE Government's consultation on its plans to close post offices demonstrates very effectively why people are so sceptical about official ''consultation exercises''.
The Government proposed to close 2500 post offices, the public response was overwhelmingly negative.
And the Government's answer, to press on and close 2500 anyway.
There was a little progress where the most remote areas are concerned.
In areas where the criteria are not currently met, new services may be introduced, probably mobile or "outreach" facilities. This may well be of benefit to remote areas where services have been lost, and certainly shows the importance of continuing to fight the Highlands' corner hard.
But on the other side of the coin, Labour ministers say that all areas will be treated similarly where post offices are concerned. Small towns, such as Nairn, and villages that are close together are likely to be the places that suffer most.
So the fight for the Highlands' rural post office network is by no means over.
One surprise was the government's statement that half of the closures are likely to be in urban areas.
Inverness suffered a round of closures in 2004, taking away highly valued services. The post office will certainly be looking at Inverness again to see if any additional closures can be justified according to the criteria that Alastair Darling laid down.
Labour ministers argue that closures are necessary as a response to external events, that people are using the post office less now that they used to.
But they fail to take their share of the responsibility for that change, much of which stems from the way that different Government departments have removed their business from post offices or made it harder for customers to use the post office.
For example, the decision to stop providing TV licenses through post offices has hit many elderly and vulnerable customers hard. A responsible Government would have stepped in to prevent the BBC taking this retrograde step.
We now know that the post office card account, used by so many to access their pension and benefits, will continue post-2010. The bad news is that there is no guarantee that the post office will win the contract for it.
No other network can rival the post office's reach into rural and deprived urban areas, and to put the card elsewhere would be a scandal.
I will continue to work hard in Parliament to resist the Government's plans to close post offices.
Over the next 18 months, it will become clear which offices are proposed for closure and I will campaign hard alongside any community that wishes to retain this essential service.
RESPONSIBLE OPPOSITION VITAL
Following the recent elections, the Liberal Democrats are now in opposition to SNP-led administrations in Holyrood and Glenurquhart Road.
There are important issues to be dealt with at both levels, and in particular we await with interest for the new council coalition to publish its policy programme.
Responsible opposition is a vitally important role in a democracy, at local or national level.
It will be a new feature at local level, but I am sure that the council and the public alike will benefit from the administration being closely scrutinised and held to account, as well as from having alternative policies proposed.
We certainly live in interesting times.
Posted on: 22/05/2007
