Brighton Pavilion Labour and Co-operative MP David Lepper says Conservative MPs who voted against supporting the government’s investment of  £1.7 billion up to 2011, including an annual subsidy of £150 million, for a national network of 11,500 post offices “have no right to claim to be champions of local post offices.”

David added:

“Every Tory MP present in the House of Commons last Wednesday (19 March) for the debate on post office closures voted against Labour’s subsidy.

“When challenged to commit any future Tory government to match this subsidy their spokesman refused. Without the subsidy any post office not making a profit would have to close whatever the social need in its area.”

David further commented:

“Of course, this Tory policy is not surprising. Since 1997 Labour has already invested £2 billion in the network while the last Tory government did not provide a subsidy and closed 3,500 post offices,

“In the debate Tories called for a suspension of the current round of consultation on branch closures. If they had won the vote this would not have meant the reopening of any branches already closed in Brighton and Hove or elsewhere in Sussex.

“All this Tory stunt could have achieved was prolonged uncertainty about the future for sub-postmasters and their customers.

“Reducing the number of post offices has been accepted by the general secretary of the National Federation of Sub Post Masters, who said, ‘Although regrettable, we believe closures are necessary to ensure the remaining post offices are able to thrive.’

“There’s no incompatibility between that strategy and campaigning with residents and post masters, as I and other MPs have done, to keep individual branches where we believe there’s a genuine need for them.

“It is interesting that during that campaign in my constituency we heard not a word from local Tory representatives in support of the post offices in Preston Road, Trafalgar Street and Elm Grove.

“I hope that now the Tory leaders of Brighton and Hove Council will look seriously at the call from me and others for the council to look into the possibility of its involvement in local post offices – perhaps by having counters in some council offices accessible to the public.

“As long as the Tories refuse to spell out what financial support they would provide their pose as champions of post offices is a cynical sham.”