On Saturday I spoke at a public meeting against the closure of Neath Abbey Post Office. Representatives from Post Watch and Post Office Ltd were present. There was a good turnout of local people, who had obvious concerns about the possible closure of a Post Office that they use on a regular basis, and which elderly people find to be much more accessible than the Skewen or Neath central Post Office service. What was frustrating about the meeting was the continued emphasis by Post Office Ltd that they could not be 'political', and that they were merely acting on the Westminster Government's wishes to close 2,500 Post Offices.
It is phenomenal how the Labour Government at Westminster are trying to shrug off any responsibility with regards to the closure programme by allowing the Post Office Ltd to front such public meetings. They are effectively forcing them to take the flack for their own political decision, and making them stand up as scapegoats by the likes of Peter Hain MP who voted in favour of the closures from the outset.
I think that government Ministers, and Labour MPs that voted the way they did should take responsibility for their actions, and partake in such meetings from a government perspective instead of the Post Office Ltd, so that they can tell people exactly what is happening. How are Labour MPs across the country allowed to get away with organising their own public meetings in the guise of supporting communities and retaining their Post Offices, when they are the very people that facilitiated the process by which the Post Offices are diminishing?
How are they then allowed to stop other political parties from airing their opinions at such meetings, (as happened at the meeting in Aberdulais) who are merely seeking to emphasise that it is the Labour Government in London that is making this decision, that it is they who are actively taking government services away from the Post Office?
Is it any wonder that people lose faith in the political process? People are not naive, they can see how hypocritical Labour MPs are in this regard. If MPs care so much about eradicating poverty and developing their communities, why did they not put up a fight when it mattered- when they were voting on this issue? Crying crocodile tears now will not fool the public. Peter Hain should know that more than anybody.
It is phenomenal how the Labour Government at Westminster are trying to shrug off any responsibility with regards to the closure programme by allowing the Post Office Ltd to front such public meetings. They are effectively forcing them to take the flack for their own political decision, and making them stand up as scapegoats by the likes of Peter Hain MP who voted in favour of the closures from the outset.
I think that government Ministers, and Labour MPs that voted the way they did should take responsibility for their actions, and partake in such meetings from a government perspective instead of the Post Office Ltd, so that they can tell people exactly what is happening. How are Labour MPs across the country allowed to get away with organising their own public meetings in the guise of supporting communities and retaining their Post Offices, when they are the very people that facilitiated the process by which the Post Offices are diminishing?
How are they then allowed to stop other political parties from airing their opinions at such meetings, (as happened at the meeting in Aberdulais) who are merely seeking to emphasise that it is the Labour Government in London that is making this decision, that it is they who are actively taking government services away from the Post Office?
Is it any wonder that people lose faith in the political process? People are not naive, they can see how hypocritical Labour MPs are in this regard. If MPs care so much about eradicating poverty and developing their communities, why did they not put up a fight when it mattered- when they were voting on this issue? Crying crocodile tears now will not fool the public. Peter Hain should know that more than anybody.
