OUTRAGE AT GOVERNMENT ABANDONMENT OF POST OFFICE 

Angus MP Mike Weir, SNP spokesperson on Trade and Industry, has accused the UK government of abandoning the Royal Mail by using private mail carriers for its own correspondence. Mr Weir has demanded to know how much government mail is carried by private companies and what the cost is to the taxpayer.

Mr Weir’s move comes after he received correspondence from the Department of Work and Pensions which had used TNT mail.

“This is yet another example of the double standards being operated by the UK government. This department sparked the current crisis of Post Office closures by its inexplicable decision to push benefit payments to banks rather than post offices. Not content with this it is now using private mail delivery firms which will further undermine the business of the Post Office.”

“What is the logic of one government department, Trade and Industry, pumping millions into the Post Office to try and maintain services whilst another major department actively undermines the service? This shows a complete lack of joined up thinking and is effectively the government abandoning the Post Office to its fate.”

“The Post Office is more than a business. The cynical way in which the Department of Work and Pensions is acting shows how little this government cares about the social aspect of the Post Office.

“We have seen in Angus the closure of sub Post Offices in Montrose, Arbroath, Forfar and Friockheim as a direct result of government policy. Many others remain under threat, especially as other government services are being withdrawn and there is no certainty of subsidy for rural offices after 2008.”

“The actions of the Department have not only caused the closure of thousands of sub post offices  but now imperils the future of the universal service obligation which is essential to the maintenance of services in rural Scotland.”

“The government must display a commitment to our postal service by using its services.”