Andrew Gwynne MP has hit back at unfounded claims by Tameside Tory Leader, Councillor John Bell, where he inaccurately accused Tameside’s three Labour MPs of supporting local post office closures in a parliamentary vote, and made false claims about the numbers of Post Offices to close in the Borough in the forthcoming network review.

Andrew Gwynne MP said:

“I have always supported the Post Office network. Whatever proposals that are made about the size of the network, I will always fight for a decent level of service for my constituents. This is why I have worked hard to ensure my constituents concerns about Denton Post Office have reached the highest level.”

"The fact is that the Post Office network receives £150 million a year subsidy from the Labour Government because only 4,000 of the 14,000 branches open today actually makes a profit. Despite criticism of the Labour Government’s policy, the Tories have failed to match Labour’s commitment to subsidise the Post Office network by £150m a year. Without this subsidy thousands more branches would be under threat.”

“Part of the problem is that peoples’ lives have changed dramatically, and they no longer expect to use a Post Office service designed for the 19th Century to meet their needs in the 21st Century, but we still need to protect the Post Office to ensure that those that do rely on Post Office services have their needs met.”

“The fact is that the Tories have only pledged to protect “profitable” branches – but only around 4,000 of the current 14,000 plus branches are commercially viable.”

“What Councillor John Bell doesn’t tell you is that under the last Tory Government 3,500 Post Offices were closed, and that under their current policy the people of Tameside should expect all 10,000 non-profit making Post Offices to close under the Tories.”

The recent vote in Parliament that Councillor Bell referred to was not a vote about stopping national closures. The vote last Wednesday in the House of Commons was on a Conservative Opposition Day Debate about the forthcoming national network review. What the three Tameside MPs voted for was the Government motion, which stated:

• “That this House recognises the vital social and economic role of post offices, in particular in rural and deprived urban communities; notes the decline in post office customer numbers in recent years and the financial losses of £174 million incurred by the network in 2007; further recognises the effect of changes such as direct debit facilities and increased use of the internet for payment and communication; commends the Government’s action to support the post office network with investment of up to £1.7 billion up until 2011, including an annual subsidy of £150 million; further notes that this subsidy did not exist under the last government and that without it thousands more post offices would be under threat; and urges the Government to continue working with Post Office Limited to ensure a viable and sustainable network for the future.”
  

Andrew Gwynne MP continued:

“John Bell is a politician of the past, who wants my constituents to also live in the past.” 

“Many people who are reaching pension age now have been used to paying bills by Direct Debit for many years, and now that they are retiring have no intention of starting to use the Post Office to collect their pensions or queuing up to pay their bills in person every week.”

“As for John Bell’s scaremongering claims, they are just that. This is a convenient scare story in the run up to local elections. When I met with Post Office bosses last month they assured me that they were not looking at Denton at all in the forthcoming network review.”

“Councillor Bell should hang his head in shame, his actions are not becoming of a politician with his level of responsibility. I demand nothing short of a full apology.”