Release Date:
11 March 2002
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised Tony
Blair for allowing the plans for privatising the Post Office to go ahead without
thinking about the devastating consequences it would have on local communities.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Communications Workers Union share
concerns that competition will kill off door-to-door deliveries and drive up
the cost to consumers of postal deliveries in difficult to get to areas such as
the countryside. There is also concern
that planned cuts by Consignia to deal with their £1.5 million a day deficit
will lead to the closure of sub-Post Offices in urban areas as well as in rural
communities.
“The last thing Tony Blair is thinking about is us
and our local community”, said Peter Black, Assembly Member for South Wales
West. “Most people are very satisfied
with the service they receive from the Post Office, and look at the
privatisation of the service with dread if not outright hostility.”
“It is right that new ways are considered for
running the postal service but we must realise that the Post Office, being a
rare survivor of the privatisation epidemic, is one of the few public services
that has the trust and support of the vast majority of the population.
“Under the new plans the slogan for the Post
Office would not be ‘I saw this and thought of you’ it would be ‘I saw this and
thought of sending it to you but I couldn’t afford the postage and they don’t
deliver in your area anyway.’
“This may come as a shock to some in the Tory
Party and a few in the London Labour Party, but most people, seeing the
railways mess and the current fiasco in Air Traffic Control, the annihilation
of the British Steel and coal industries and the vastly inefficient water
companies, people aren’t looking forward to getting their post a week late, if
at all.
“The quicker this is posted straight back to
Number 10 for a rethink the better.”
Also speaking on the proposed privatisation plans
for the Post Office, Mick Bates, Welsh Lib Dem Assembly Member for
Montgomeryshire said, “Privatisation of public services has been a disaster for
Wales. I am truly amazed that the very
idea of privatising the Post Office is even being considered.
“The best thing to do with the current plans is to
give them to a privatised over worked Air Traffic Controller, with a ticket for
a privatised train service and ask him to deliver it to a rural Post Office
that will survive under the new plans.
This would guarantee that we will never see these brutal, shortsighted
plans again and we can develop a sustainable and customer friendly review of
the postal service.”
ENDS....