Thousands more post offices will go

The implications of cuts to government subidies for post offices are being highlighted today by the Daily Telegraph.

The paper is reporting that somewhere between 3,000 and 7,000 face the axe out of a total network of 14,500, according to Whitehall sources.

Rural areas are likely to be hit hardest by such cuts, with the local post office often playing a central role in community life. More than 4,000 offices have closed in the past six years and more than 5,000 in the past 10 years. Many of the remaining 14,500 lose money, particularly those in rural areas.

The Government provides a £150 million annual subsidy, but this subsidy is being cut causing the closures.

Royal Mail executives are understood to have given ministers a detailed breakdown detailing how many offices will have to close if the £150 million-a-year subsidy is cut to various levels.

The question is why is this subsidy being cut? It isn't even 10 days worth of the cash Tony Blair has promised to pay the EU from next year - at £115 million a week (net). Were we to Stop the Cheques there'd be money for an increased subsidy and much more besides.

If only the government could get its priorities right and start looking after essential needs like post offices rather than lavishing billions more on an already wealthy but wasteful EU.