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Tories press post office rethink Post vote slashes Labour majority
(1 day later)
The Conservatives are hoping to put controversial plans to close 2,500 post offices to the vote in Parliament. The government's majority was cut to just 20 as the Conservatives lost a bid to prevent the planned closure of 2,500 sub-post offices.
They will use an opposition debate in the Commons to highlight protests against the closures which have led to legal challenges to keep them open. A vote to suspend the closure was defeated by 268 to 288. At least 19 Labour MPs voted with the Tories.
Shadow business secretary Alan Duncan will urge Labour MPs to "put constituents above party politics" and back calls to save the post offices. The vote reduced Labour's 67-strong majority by more than two-thirds and will be a warning shot to Gordon Brown.
The closures are necessary to reduce weekly losses of £4m, ministers insist. Shadow business secretary Alan Duncan said the result was "astonishing" and proved his party had won the argument.
It is all well and good Labour MPs issuing warm words but now we have a chance to act together to save our post offices Alan DuncanShadow business secretary Business Minister Pat McFadden said the programme was vital because of fewer customers and heavy losses - but he would consider plans by some councils to take over branches under threat.
The Tories say a number of Labour MPs and ministers have campaigned against branch closures in their own constituencies - but are still likely to vote against suspending the move. 'Anger'
"We know which Labour ministers and MPs are against post office closures - we will see today the true extent of their conviction," Mr Duncan said. A government amendment commending its actions in subsidising the network was backed by 290 to 251, a majority of 39.
"It is all well and good Labour MPs issuing warm words but now we have a chance to act together to save our post offices. Tonight's vote is a huge embarrassment to the government and shows that a large number of Labour MPs are even prepared to support a Tory motion to demonstrate their concern John McDonnellLabour MP class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/7305903.stm">At-a-glance: Labour rebels
I would chain myself to a pillar box if I thought it would do any good Victoria WoodComedienne Rebel MP John McDonnell said: "The government has always underestimated the strength of anger on Labour benches against the privatisation and cuts in this essential public service.
"Their constituents would simply not understand how they could say one thing locally, and then not vote in support of saving their post offices when given the chance. "Tonight's vote is a huge embarrassment to the government and shows that a large number of Labour MPs are even prepared to support a Tory motion to demonstrate their concern.
"Hundreds of thousands of people will be badly let down if MPs put party politics ahead of the concerns of their constituents." "The government is the sole shareholder in Royal Mail and could stop this closure programme in its tracks."
Conservative leader David Cameron visited a post office in Fulham, London, that is destined for closure, while celebrities, including comedienne Victoria Wood, joined a demonstration against the closure of a branch in Highgate, north London. Some 19 Labour MPs voted for the Tory motion, along with Robert Wareing, who quit the party last year after failing to be reselected to fight his seat and now sits as an independent.
Ms Wood, who has lived within walking distance of the post office for 15 years, said: "It's madness to close this post office that is bang in the middle of the village. Tory leader David Cameron did not take part in the vote. A Conservative Party spokesman said he had been forced to return home to look after his children.
"It is brilliant and staffed by lovely people. I would chain myself to a pillar box if I thought it would do any good." 'Unfunded promises'
Legal challenge Shadow business secretary Alan Duncan urged Labour MPs to rebel, arguing that 90 of them, including seven in the Cabinet, had been campaigning against the post office closures.
However, George Thomson, general secretary of the National Federation of SubPostmasters, said if the Tory motion before the Commons is successful "it will result in more uncertainty for those sub postmasters who are ready to accept the compensation deal on offer and leave the network with much of their original investment intact". Mr Brown had told MPs he wanted to see good Post Office services in every part of the country but argued that the organisation was losing £500,000 a day.
The Tories want Labour MPs to help save their local post offices The hunt will now be on for all those Labour MPs who have pretended to support their local Post Office and then done a runner when they had a chance to make a real difference Alan DuncanShadow business secretary
London Mayor Ken Livingstone says he is mounting a legal challenge against the planned closure of 171 post offices in the capital. He said the Tory measure had not promised extra cash for the Post Office, adding: "Unfunded promises are empty and hollow promises to the people of this country."
Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), urged the government "to suspend the deeply unpopular closure and franchising programme and provide lasting investment to secure the future of the post office network". But after the vote, Mr Duncan said: "The government has just squeaked home; it's astonishing that it was only a majority of 20. The power of argument has overcome the power of their whips.
He said the union had concerns that the Conservative Party "does not have the best interests of the network at heart, as its policy effectively calls for it to be dismantled". "The hunt will now be on for all those Labour MPs who have pretended to support their local Post Office and then done a runner when they had a chance to make a real difference."
When the programme for post office closures was announced, ministers pointed out that the government had invested £2bn in the network between 1997 and 2006 and would commit an extra £1.7bn until 2011. He said the closure programme was being "rammed" through and "community is being pitted against community" in an attempt to keep their branch.
There are now four million fewer customers than two years ago. 'Uncertainty'
Meanwhile, the CWU is holding a two-day conference on postal services in Europe in London, with officials from around 20 unions expected to take part. While the Tories fully expected the network to "shrink in size", they had never given a guarantee that there will be no post office closures, he said.
Mr Duncan said the six-week consultation on which post offices are to close "is a sham".
HAVE YOUR SAYOf course we should save the post offices, not everyone wishes to conduct their affairs via e-mail Susannah, Leicestershire Send us your comments
But Mr Hutton claimed the Tory motion to suspend the closures was based on "false hopes, flawed economics and opportunism".
There was an "inescapable fact" that had to be accepted, "however difficult" - the role of the Post Office has changed because of technology and consumer behaviour - he said.
"These have both combined to reduce very substantially the numbers of people using their local sub-post offices and increased substantially the losses being incurred by the Post Office."
However, Mr Hutton said he wanted the Post Office to give "serious consideration" to a proposal by Essex County Council, to take over and run post offices earmarked for closure in the county.
Sarah Teather, the Lib Dem business spokeswoman, said: "These closures rip the heart out of the centre of the community."
Tory Tim Loughton accused the Post Office of "sticking two fingers up at pensioners, at local business, the community at which the Post Office forms the heart... and they have the temerity to call themselves the 'People's Post Office'".
Labour's Martin Salter said the consultation had been "less than transparent and at times shambolic".
When the programme for post office closures was announced in 2006, ministers pointed out that the government had invested £2bn in the network since 1997 and would commit an extra £1.7bn until 2011.