Tamworth Conservative’s launch Post Office Fight Back Campaign
Press Release :
31 March 2008
Tamworth’s Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, Christopher Pincher, has launched a campaign to save Borough Park Post Office which is threatened with closure. At the same time, Conservative Councillors have censured Labour MP Brian Jenkins for voting to axe more outlets.
On 19th March, in a close vote, the government defeated a Conservative motion to stop Post Office closures by just twenty votes. A number of Labour MPs broke ranks to support the Tory proposals. But Tamworth MP Brian Jenkins backed government policy which will see another 800 Post Offices across the country close their doors.
Launching the Borough Park campaign Mr. Pincher said:
“Post Offices are a lifeline to the community. They serve young and old, from the senior citizen collecting their pension to the “ebay generation” – small business people who use Post Offices to weigh and measure their parcels for delivery.”
“The government simply is not listening to local people. That is why we have launched this campaign to persuade the Prime Minister to stop these cuts. We want this Post Office to stay open for business, serving the community.”
And in a withering assault on Mr. Jenkins’ decision to back the government rather than his constituents, Belgrave councillor Robert Pritchard said:
“Brian Jenkins is guilty of double standards of gob-smacking proportions. Just recently he was pictured at Amington Post Office’s second birthday party. Yet now he has ignored local people and voted to close down more local offices. One day he smiles with a birthday cake. Next day he wields the knife. His craven conduct is a disgrace!”
Local Councillors Ron Cook and Ken Gant are also supporting the campaign:
Cllr. Cook, pictured, said:
“Some people use this Post Office because it is on their doorstep, but others come from miles around. Pensioners will now have to travel further to collect their pensions whilst the Post Master’s business also suffers. Thanks to government short sightedness, everybody loses out.”
The full list of Staffordshire Post Office closures, which also includes closures in Lichfield District, was announced publicly on 1st April.
Local Conservatives complain that sub-Post Masters are being gagged from speaking out. Documents leaked last year show the Royal Mail told sub-Post Masters that they risk losing compensation if they support anti-closure campaigns. Local sub-Post Masters say that when they were visited by the closure inspectors, they were given a sealed box and told not to open it until 1st April.
Conservatives are encouraging residents across Tamworth to register their support for Borough Park Post Office. They are delivering thousands of petition leaflets around the Perrycrofts area and have set up a campaign website – www.savepostoffice.co.uk where people can sign a petition which will be taken to Gordon Brown in London.
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