Bishop defends 'essential' POs; Clergyman hits out at closures in rural areas.

Byline: MIchael Wood

THE Bishop of Newcastle has hit out at the Government's handling of post office closures during a debate in the House of Lords.

The Right Reverend Martin Wharton said the post office was vital to rural life in his diocese and said it was a "matter of justice" to make sure its services were available to deprived communities.

He was speaking as a House of Lords debate heavily criticised the closure programme, with a former Labour rural affairs minister accusing the Government of "failure of imagination".

Lord Whitty, National Consumer Council chairman, told the Lords: "I say to the Government gently that the central failure here is a failure of imagination and joined-up government.

"There are 2,500 post offices that will be closed. It is only a question of which ones.

But that is an unnecessarily narrow choice and this is not joined-up Government. The whole range of Government needs to be engaged in this.

"We need to take a holistic approach, particularly towards our deprived rural and urban areas, and see what kind of service and Government support are needed there.

"We should not just look at it as if through a tunnel, in terms of post office finances and subsidies, but look at what the community itself really needs."

The Government has sparked anger with plans to close 2,500 post offices around the country to ease losses of pounds 500,000 a day.

So far, 14 closures in the south of County Durham have been announced, with the post offices affected in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear due to be announced in July.

Speaking later in the debate, Bishop Wharton, said: "The internet cannot replace the post office, for the sending and receiving of goods. It is a place for small rural businesses which need an accessible post office and banking facilities.

"The mark of a civilised society is the way that those at the margins are kept in the mainstream. Isolated and dispersed deprivation is very difficult to address but the Churches stand ready, with buildings in almost every rural community, to play our part to save some of the most basic services for our people.

"Post offices are an essential part of rural community life. In the end, it is a matter of justice that the most vulnerable members of our communities are able to gain adequate access to their post office."

Junior business minister Baroness Vadera said the Government "do not see a post office as a purely financial concern" but it was necessary to take "difficult" decisions to close some post offices. There had been a 20% fall in the number of people visiting post offices in the last two years and this reflected lifestyle changes, she said.

CAPTION(S):

CHAMPION The Bishop of Newcastle Rt Rev Martin Wharton.