LTB 262/09 - POL: Call for Establishment of a Post Bank

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LTB 262/09 - POL: Campaign for the Establishment of a Post Bank

No: 262/09
Ref: 132
Date: 20 March 2009
http://www.cwu.org/ltb-262/09-pol-campa ... -bank.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS




Dear Colleagues

POL: Campaign for the Establishment of a Post Bank

I am pleased to inform Branches that our campaign launch on Tuesday 17th March at the House of Commons, to set up a state run People's Bank (Post Bank), was a hugely successful event. I thank Branches and Regional Secretaries for attending this event. Associated with this LTB is an interesting document from DeHavilland Information Services which is a comprehensive report of the event.

The launch presented a non partisan cross party platform of speakers which enabled us to gain greater media coverage and galvanise support across the political spectrum. The Press and media coverage on the day was significant, with Billy Hayes speaking on Radio 4 and several key articles were carried in the daily Broadsheets. There were also reports and interviews on BBC news both morning and evening, including Jon Cruddas MP on BBC evening news. A further two articles, including a major editorial supporting the Post Bank concept, were published in the Guardian on Wednesday, 25th March, which I attach to this LTB.
We gained valuable support from well-known political figures. We also received some encouraging, although mixed, words from Pat McFadden, Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs. Specifically, Mr McFadden agreed that the Post Office should expand its banking role stressing that he was open to discuss how this could be done. However he said the debate must focus on exactly how to enact these changes. He postured that it could either be achieved through the creation of a Post Bank, or through the existing relationship the Post Office has with the Bank of Ireland. John Cruddas MP strongly disagreed with this point, asserting that the Post Bank should be state run and seen as a public service.


EDM 1082

To date, 85 MPs have signed EDM 1082, which supports the Post Bank Coalition's objectives. This is a very good response considering the EDM was only tabled last Friday. If you haven't already, Branches are encouraged to urge MPs to sign the EDM to support our initiative so that we can put pressure on the Government to agree in principle to our proposal.


EDM
"That this House congratulates the Post Bank Coalition of the Communication Workers Union, Federation of Small Businesses, New Economics Foundation, Unite the Union, National Convention of Pensioners and Public Interest Research Centre, on its plans for a new state-owned Post Bank based on the Post Office network; recognises the importance such a Bank could have in underpinning the future sustainability of the Post Office network; and calls on the Government, as a matter of urgency, to set up a Post Bank to combat financial exclusion and allow communities and local businesses to access a fair and trusted banking system."

Link to the EDM:http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetai ... ESSION=899

I urge you to encourage your MPs to sign the EDM as we need to gain significant and broad support. The reality is that there needs to be a political will from Government to make this a reality. Therefore it is essential to increase the pressure on Government to embrace a state run Post Bank.

To assist you in this important activity, a model letter is attached which can be modified for local circumstances. This is designed to help Branches lobby their MPs to sign up to our campaign.
Finally, it is imperative that we keep up the momentum that the launch has injected into this campaign. We need to ensure that our activities are focused on pursuing our objectives to the next level by gaining Government commitment. To this end, we are due to hold a meeting with the campaign coalition on Monday 23rd March. Further developments in relation to next steps will be reported.

Yours sincerely




Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary