| POST OFFICE CLOSURES THREATEN FABRIC OF COMMUNITY |
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STEPHEN GEE, Liberal Democrat spokesman for Wimbledon in the Wimbledon Guardian, Thursday 24th February 2005 "After reading your coverage of the potential post office closures in Merton, I have discovered that around 2,200 post offices have closed nationally since 2000. This has severely affected many people's access to vital post office services and London alone has lost 20 per cent of its post offices. The closure of a post office has an immense effect on the community, especially on more vulnerable people, like pensioners and disabled people, who depend on its services - we do not want to see more town centre branches go. Government policies like direct payment of benefits have significantly undermined post offices as viable businesses. Many sub-postmasters have lost up to 40 per cent of their income from this measure alone. The Government's solution to this has been to pour massive subsidies into the rural network to keep it afloat, while introducing a programme of closures in urban areas. This is not the way to secure the future of the network. Post offices need to be able to offer new services and products that will attract people back into their branch and replace the income that Government policies have drained away. I would like to encourage your readers to write to Wimbledon MP Roger Casale (at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at the House of Commons) to ask him to suggest ways in which his constituents might collect their pensions, pay their utility bills or access a number of other services, if their post office closes."
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