Loss of contract could close 350 post offices

SNP candidate in the Glasgow East by-election Cllr John Mason today called on the UK Government not to take the Post Office Card Account Contract away from the Post Office as he highlighted the Labour party's continuing plans to close Post Offices and the failure of Labour MPs to vote to stop Post Office closures.

Fears have been expressed that if the Post Office do not get the contract there will be another round of substantial post office closures, the National Federation of Sub Postmasters predict around 350 in Scotland alone.
 

Visiting a Post Office on Shettleston Road with Glasgow MSP Sandra White, who led a campaign to save Post Offices in Glasgow when Labour pushed ahead with closure plans Cllr Mason said: "Glasgow has already seen one round of Post Office closures - closures endorsed by Glasgow's Labour MPs - we cannot allow there to be any more.

"SNP MPs voted against Post Office closures - Glasgow's Labour MPs voted for them.

"Post Offices are still the heart of many communities in the East End and as MP for Glasgow East I will work to support local services in local communities.

"With the UK Government tendering the Post Office Card Account - an account used by many people in Glasgow who do not have other bank accounts to access benefits and pension payments the Labour Government is putting the Post Office at further risk.

"Only a vote for the SNP will tell the UK Government that further closures are unacceptable and that communities in the East End support their post offices."

Glasgow MSP Sandra White who campaigned across the city against the last round of Post Office closures said: "The current Post Office Card Account is the only financial service available to many  pensioners and those who are financially excluded - for others the Post Office is a service they trust. If the Post Office were to loose this contract we would face yet another round of savage cuts endorsed by the Labour party."

"The UK Government were directly responsible for the current mess by removing benefit and pension payments from the Post Office. The Card account was an attempt to arrest that decline and if it was now to go it would spell disaster."