Missing Michael: Where Was MP Howard In Post Office Vote?
The Government narrowly avoided an embarrassing defeat in the Commons last night of their plans to close 2,500 post offices. Labour's majority was reduced to just 20, with Lib Dems and Tories voting together, but Folkestone & Hythe MP Michael Howard and Conservative Party Leader David Cameron both FAILED to vote for the Conservative placed motion!
The Liberal Democrats including Party Leader Nick Clegg voted to halt the cuts to the Post Office network, alongside many Tory MPs and a number of Labour rebels. However, Michael Howard and his Leader were amongst the 11 Conservative MPs who did not vote - and whose vote could have cut the majority to single figures and even convinced more Labour MPs the rebel as there would be a realistic chance of success.
Liberal Democrat Sarah Teather said in the debate:
"The truth is that the Government are presiding over the managed decline of our post office network. They are choosing to do that because they totally fail to understand the social value of our post offices to the 2 million vulnerable individuals who do not have bank accounts, for example. Those people rely on the post offices to access their benefits. The Government also fail to understand the role of the post office as a social hub for the community, or the economic value of the post office to the surrounding economy.
" Those of us who have had post offices closed in our communities know that the death of the post office often spells the end for the shop in which it has been housed. The hon. Member for Rutland and Melton, too, mentioned that. The death of the main shop on a street can often spell the end for the nearby parade of shops as well. In Brent, in my constituency, the post offices are just part of a long line of services facing the chop. The process started with the health centres, as the primary care trusts struggled to scale in their debts. Then police station closures were announced, followed by the closure of job centres. There is a sense that Labour is shutting up shop in our community.
"These closures will rip the heart out of the community. They are the places that people value for getting face-to-face advice, with centres on the high street. They provide vital local services. It is as though Labour is shutting up shop in the very heart of our communities."
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