The Post office RIP: insane treachery and murder by New Labour

Already stabbed in the back numerous times by the government, the owners of thousands of post offices are now facing wipeout as one of the main services they provide is set to be ripped out of their hands and gifted to the private sector. One of my friends has what one would consider an extremely busy high street branch; of the type that few would foresee closing. However, this one move to remove the post office card account and hand it over to PayPoint will lead to the loss of a dozen jobs and bring the business to its knees and probably lead to closure within months. There is no doubt in my mind that this move will wipe out most of the existing branches as they find themselves unable to pay the rent or staff wages. In July this year, the government had already removed the ability of post offices to accept payment of the water bill and handed it over to Payzone. Slowly but repeatedly the government has knifed local community post offices in the back with a poisoned dagger by removing their services. Then it has the cheek to say that they are not making a profit!

Personally, I have severe doubts about the ability of newsagents with a paypoint or payzone facility to cope with the thousands of people and vast amount of money that post offices deal with. Who will provide security for the huge amounts of cash required? On a typical Monday a post office hands out tens of thousands of pounds of money and also has the facilities to look after the cash securely. They have knowledgeable staff trained to look after elderly and disadvantage people in the community. This is not just about removing a vital financial service but an important social one as well.

This latest piece of insane, ill-thought out treachery is set to be delayed until after the Glenrothes by-election in which New Labour will be annihilated anyway. Read part of the story in this article in todays Observer.