Comment
Listening with deaf ears
COMMUNITIES Secretary Hazel Blears
made an admission and a promise
yesterday.
Accepting that there is "a bit of antipolitics" around, she vowed to try and
make sure people have a bigger say in
what happens in a bid to increase trust.
Ms Blears' pronouncement came a few
hours after the list of nationwide post
office closures was confirmed.
And the thorny subject of post offices is
a good place for her to start. After three
months of "consultation", with thousands
of ordinary people doing their best
to save their community post offices, the
result - as we confidently predicted yesterday
- is that none of the 37 branches
fighting closure plans in our region have
survived.
We can't even say how many people have
taken the time and trouble to put their
names to protest petitions because Post
Office Ltd says it doesn't have a breakdown
of the numbers. What does that say
about the consultation process?
Ms Blears should take a look at the comments
made by readers via The Northern
Echo's website within minutes of the closure
hit-list being confirmed yesterday
morning.
They capture the strength of feeling in
our communities and underline the lack
of faith local people have in consultation.
This is the root of the "bit of antipolitics"
that Hazel Blears has correctly
sensed.
Indeed, we believe it is much more than
that. There is ever-deepening cynicism
about politicians who talk about the importance
of listening, then turn a deaf ear
to public opinion.
Are you listening Ms Blears?
1:01pm Wednesday 14th May 2008
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