POST OFFICE PURDAH ONLY CONFIRMED AFTER BROWN BOTTLED ELECTION
SNP Westminster Postal Affairs Spokesperson, Mike Weir MP, has today (Thursday) accused the UK Government of political gerrymandering after it emerged that Ministers only decided to impose purdah restraints on Post Office closure announcements after Gordon Brown decided not to hold an autumn General Election.
Mr Weir has been pursuing the chain of events that led to the announcement of purdah prior to the English local elections. Commenting on a response from the Minister for Postal Services, Pat McFadden, that discloses that Post Office Ltd were instructed to suspend the closure consultation process south of the border on 5th November, Mr Weir said:
“It is abundantly clear that the introduction of purdah was due to the huge damage that was likely to be done to Labour in the English local government elections in May. This answer blows out of the water any argument that it was always subject to purdah.
“If the announcements were always covered by the rules of purdah, why was this not dealt with at the outset? Why were there discussions over some months, and why was it only on 5th November, after Gordon Brown had bottled it over the General Election, that the Post Office were ordered to delay announcements?
“This demonstrates once and for all that the UK Government are quite prepared to interfere in the process when it is in their interests. They cannot continue to insist that the closures of Scotland’s post offices are a commercial decision and nothing to do with them.
“UK Ministers must intervene and suspend the programme until there is a fair and reasonable public consultation process put in place.”
ENDS
Contact SNP Westminster Press: 0207 219 0074
The text of Mr Weir’s question to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is set out below:
Michael Weir MP To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on what date he or his ministerial colleagues informed Post Office Ltd that it could not issue recommendations in the run up to the local elections in England due to the operation of purdah.
Patrick McFadden (Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform) Following discussion with Post Office Ltd over a number of months, the company was formally advised on 5 November of the particular application to the Network Change Programme of the principles set out in the Cabinet Office guidelines relating to public consultations in the period preceding local elections.