Save our Post Offices campaign update

Finally, the sham 'consultation' period is over, and as expected the Post Office has kept the hit list of Post Offices it wants closed largely intact.

We have been pressing Devon County Council to commit to saving the vast majority of the threatened Post Offices, as well as collecting names on a petition that will be presented to County Council leader Cllr. Brian Greenslade. The support for our campaign, particularly in the Exeter area, has been strong. In addition to local supporters, former Labour MP and Postmaster General Tony Benn also gave the campaign his backing.

The County Council's approach has been very weak to say the least. During the 'consultation' period it earmarked only 10 to keep open in its submission to the Post Office. A motion passed by the Council Executive earlier in the month contained only vague generalities and a committment to appoint a 'Project Worker'.

What the council needs is a bit of imagination and a bit of backbone. The Post Offices can be saved if the council steps in. These can be used as community facilities with sub-postmasters and mistresses given the opportunity to top up their income by undergoing training to perform council services closer to where people live. Council funds could also be used to develop the Post Offices to perform other functions - a local shop or coffee house perhaps. A democratic plan could have been drawn up by people living in the area served by the Post Office.

In response to lobbying by Devon Socialist Party, Brian Greenslade promised that Devon would react to the threat with a better plan than Essex's. Essex County Council saved the bulk of their threatened Post Offices. Unless Cllr. Greenslade and his associates have a rabbit up their sleeves, their 'better plan' of letting the Post Offices close seems a little underwhelming. The campaign will continue, as it will against generalised cutting of public services.

Save our Post Offices - progress so far

Names are being added to the online petition we have set up (here) as well as to our paper petitions. Petioning had been going on in Exeter, with a special 'Save our Post Offices stall in Exeter High Street on Saturday and around the residential area near to the Post Office threatened in Pinhoe Road. If you want to sign the online petition, but are having problems (many people have been unable to sign it) please email the campaign at sopodevon@gmail.com. Already many have signed it, including former Postmaster General and Labour MP Tony Benn. And we've only really just started!

It is clear that there is a great deal of anger at the plans, and we stick to our central demand that none of the Post Offices close and that the council takes them over and sees them continue as Post Offices. It seems that they will not do this for the majority of the threatened Post Offices. We need therefore to keep up the pressure on them. If you would like to get involved with the campaign, email us either at socialistpartydevon@gmail.com or sopodevon@gmail.com

Save our Post Offices - campaign update

In response to the threatened closure of over 80 Post Offices, Devon Socialist Party has initiated the 'Save our Post Offices' campaign.

The intention of the Post Office is clear - whatever good arguments are put forward to save these Post Offices, they, or another in its place, will be shut. The main aim of the campaign is therefore to get the County Council to take over the threatened Post Offices and so allow them to continue operating.

We started by contacting every Devon County councillor before they met to discuss the future of the Postal Service in Devon. The reaction was mixed, with many opposing the closures but not displaying much enthusiasm for the 'Essex solution' whereby the council takes over the Post Offices. In the council meeting on the 22nd May, a motion was passed that included the following point: "the County Council confirms its willingness to invest in achieving sustainable post office services for the affected communities".

We must continue the pressure to make sure they stick to this promise, and that this means that not one Post Office will close, and they will not be expected to run as profit making businesses but firstly as vital public services.

You can see the 'Save our Post Offices' website here: http://saveourpostoffices.wordpress.com
The email address for the campaign is here: sopodevon@gmail.com

Please get in contact if you would like to get involved.

No to post office cuts - reveal the list of closures now!

At a recent meeting in Torquay, Devon MPs were informed by post office officials of the latest round of closures, it now being the south west's turn, after a convenient delay in the post office closure programme during the election campaign.

The MPs have been asked to keep quiet until the formal public announcement on May 20th. Needless to say, a Socialist MP would not be doing the bidding of the Dr. Beechings of the Post Office, but already assembling a campaign to fight the closures.

Well, we might not have an MP, but we are organising a campaign. Our first point is that the MPs reveal the list of closures NOW.

Our second point is that while we have no illusions in the sham 'consultations' that will be held, we will be campaigning against the closures in a variety of ways. We can win this one - campaigners in Essex triumphed when the County Council took over the threatened Post Offices.

This national closure programme is the consequence of the New Labour government having transformed the post office from a public service into a profit making enterprise, and stripping it of some of its functions. They have also opened up the postal 'market' to competition by all sorts of private companies, looking to make a quick buck. These neo-liberal measures have resulted in a less effective, less convenient and more expensive postal service. They have also resulted in vicious assaults on the pay, conditions and pensions of Post Office and Royal Mail workers.

We make a stand against cuts, as we did when we supported the postal workers last summer/autumn. The three main parties offer nothing apart from a constant diet of privatisation and cuts. What is needed is for campaigners defending local services is to link up with other campaigners, trade unionists and socialists to form a new political alternative to the mainstream parties. Together we will be stronger, especially so with a united political voice.

If you would like to get involved in the campaign, email us: socialistpartydevon@gmail.com