A Conservative Government would likely close even more Post Offices - Öpik

5.53.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 4th Jun 2008

In a dramatic development in today's Westminster debate on the closure of post offices across Mid Wales, Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire, caused Cheryl Gillan MP, Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, to confirm that the previous Conservative government presided over the closure of thousands of post offices when the network was making a PROFIT.

Commenting, he said:

"More than 4,000 post offices closed between 1979 and 1997 under the Tories! As this Conservative spokesperson confirmed, this was at a time when the network was in the black. It is inconceivable that a future Conservative approach towards Post Office closures would be any different - if not MORE severe - now that they are shown to be making a £4million-a-week loss!

"When I tried to clarify the Conservative position further, the Conservative Shadow Cabinet member's response to my question on Tory post office closures was silence. She gave no indication whatsoever that the Conservatives would preserve the post office network and offered no policy direction for how they might keep them open.

"Along with my colleagues in Mid Wales and the campaigning general public, I have fought hard alongside post offices for a real solution to this problem, including running them under partnerships with existing retail outlets and by local people. Sadly, the Conservatives demonstrated the point that both Labour and Conservative parties are likely to close post offices. I now challenge either to prove otherwise. So far, all we've heard is a Conservative silence - which shouts volumes about the reality of what actually happened when they were in power in the past. Nothing could be more damaging to the morale of the post office network than to discover that if the Conservatives came into power, the closures would probably continue."

Ends/diwedd

Notes to editor:

Under the Tories 974 Crown Post offices and 3,482 Sub-Post Offices were closed.