Comment
Is anybody listening?
THREE months ago, a consultation period
was launched over plans to axe 2,500
local post offices across Britain, including
scores in this region.
Today, Post Office Limited will announce
its final decision on which branches
will close - and the so-called consultation
will almost certainly be disregarded.
Like so many other "consultation periods",
it will be seen to have been a meaningless,
tick-box exercise because the decisions
had already been made.
Campaigns, petitions, letters and parliamentary
questions will have been disregarded
and the closures will go ahead.
We find further sadness in the double
standards which have been exposed at
Westminster by the debate over post office
closures.
We have seen Labour MPs, desperately
wanting to be seen defending their local
post offices, yet not prepared to cross the
party line and vote to halt the closure
programme.
No doubt they will be lining up to vent
their anger when the closure list is announced
today.
After post offices, it will be the replacement
of England's valued network of doctors'
surgeries with health centres, otherwise
known as polyclinics.
We have seen no evidence that they are
needed and we risk losing the benefits of
smaller surgeries, run by family doctors
who frequently build up long-term relationships
with patients.
Another service, important to community
life, will be undermined because efficiencies
have to be made.
All strategic health authorities in England
have been ordered by the Department
of Health to implement the policy
immediately.
There will be no formal consultation -
and members of the public can be forgiven
for questioning whether it would have
made any difference anyway.
12:01pm Tuesday 13th May 2008
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