failure to deliver (uk independance statement)

[the beautiful bd south]

Failure to Deliver
Thursday, 17 May 2007
The government was accused today of covering up the true reason why thousands of British Post Offices will be closed.

In spite of all their explanations, they have not revealed the true reason behind the closures.

"The plain truth is that the scandal of these closures is because of a ruling from the European Commission." said UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage today.

"Three years ago, this government signed away the Royal Mail's ability to conduct its own financial affairs."

The deal struck in 2003 with the European Commission allowed the government to provide £150 million a year to subsidise the Post Office, which has been extended by another three years. However, the costs of backing the service cost £4 million a week, which means a £58 million deficit every year.

Mr Farage continued, "The government have spent their time trying to lure people away from post offices by stopping many of the services they once provided, so they can lay the blame of the closures at their feet. They clearly think this is much more convenient than having to explain to people that the European Commission won't let them support these vital services any more.

"Why should we have to go to Brussels to beg permission to fund a service which is important to so many local communities; especially in rural areas?

"Thanks to the EU, the profitable services have been 'cherry-picked' whilst the small and rural post offices will get axed.

"It's about time we stamped on the power of the European Union is we are going to address the problems facing the postal services: they have consistently failed to deliver."