David Lepper's comments about the reason for the post office closures in Brighton cannot be allowed to pass without correction (Letters, November 14).

It is absolutely not the case that the responsibility for these closures is the fault of the management of Post Office Ltd. The fault lies fairly and squarely at the door of his own Government.

It is, after all, Government policies which have caused the Post Office to lose business worth over £160 million a year from the issuing of TV licences, benefits and driving licences from their sub-post offices.

It is Government policies which have put at risk the future of the Post Office Card Account and which has put undue pressure on people to close their accounts.

And it is the Government alone which has stood in the way of allowing sub-post offices to diversify the services offered thus preventing them from constructing successful business models.

It is the Government which has required the closure of 2,500 post offices, reducing the network by one third in ten years.

Labour candidate Nancy Platts goes on to comment about the access criteria for remaining subpost offices, claiming that: "These proposals are obviously made by people who know nothing about the areas affected." Yet these were the very access criteria laid down by Labour's former Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling.

It was a shame that Ms Platts did not support the Conservative Party's submission that the criteria were worthless and did not take into account geographical factors and public transport.

The reality is that our post offices should be enjoying new business opportunities, rather than being closed down. The fact that this is not happening is a direct result of the policies being pursued by the Government supported by Mr Lepper and Ms Platts.

  • Charles Hendry, Shadow Minister for Postal Affairs, Shadow Minister for Brighton and Hove, House of Commons