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email this page to a friendDESPITE a huge demonstration by 1,000 sub-postmasters in London yesterday - and the biggest petition even handed in at 10 Downing Street - the Government will go ahead and axe the £150 million subsidy meant to keep rural post offices open.
Fitzpatrick set to axe grant
This was revealed by Tony Blair when he met a group of the postmasters as they handed in their four million signature petition, said to be the largest ever presented to a prime minister.
At a later meeting, the Post Office Minister Jim Fitzpatrick was jeered and slow hand-clapped by the protestors although he agreed to re-examine the post office card scheme, which allows people without bank accounts to draw pensions and other state benefits from post offices.
Fitzpatrick, one of the many Scots in charge of English affairs, was relatively unknown until this week, when it was revealed that he is a former Trotskyist trade union official until he switched his loyalty to Blair.
The Daily Telegraph has launched a campaign to persuade its readers to write to the post office demanding that thousands of rural post offices be saved. The paper calls it the "Stop Jim" campaign.
The Following is a letter from the Postal Services Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, in response to this article
Dear Sir/Madam
Let me reassure your readers that the Government believes firmly that Post Offices are an important part of British life, particularly in rural and deprived urban areas.
This is why we have made investment of more than £2bn since 1999, and we will continue to support the national network. As the Secretary of State Alistair Darling has made absolutely clear a subsidy will continue to be needed for the foreseeable future.
As the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters have said themselves, the network in its current state is 'unsustainable'. This year the network is expected to lose £4 million every week, and some of the smallest post offices are trying to get by on fewer than three customers a day.
What sub-postmasters and what customers want is long-term stability. The Government will be announcing proposals shortly to address this and help Post Office Limited ensure a stable footing for the Post office network going forward.
Jim Fitzpatrick
Postal Services Minister
Your views:
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Sub post offices are an essential part of rural life and a way must be found to maintain them otherwise the poor, disabled & the elderly will suffer.
J S Heseltine
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Congratulations, that's the least balanced report of this story I've seen. The Government has not announced that it will axe the £150m subsidy; it's said that no decision has yet been reached on the future of the subsidy, but that it can't be increased from its current level. That's taxpayers' money, remember. Your anti-Scottish comments and "former Trotskyist" description are not worthy of comment.
Anonymous
Well, Fitzpatrick is Scottish, there are a lot of Scots in the London government and he is a former member of the socialist workers party which is a far left trotskyist organisation. which of those facts do you contest anonymous?
Arthur
