The Tories are jumping on another bandwagon calling for a suspension on all post office closures irrespective of the financial consequences or the state of the consultation or the wishes of the sub post master involved. David Cameron’s part has tabled a motion to be debated on March 19 to oppose the government’s plans.

I think it’s a grave mistake to take such a stubborn approach to this issue. The fact is that, if we don’t stem the losses we will wreck the post office network and that’s why I want to put the emphasis on Outreach initiatives rather than promise people something they can’t have.

Politicians have a choice, they can look for creative solutions to real problems or they can make ludicrous promises that they know they can’t keep. I’m for the first one and I think most sensible people will agree with me when they see the facts.

The Government is investing £1.7billion in the Post Office Network up until 2011. The plan is to encourage at least 500 ‘Outreach Initiatives’ including mobile Post Offices.

The Government has recognised the social value of the post office network but it doesn’t believe that the current network meets the changing needs of people or provides good value for money. The government’s objective must be to create a more rationally shaped national network.

An average of 16 people per week use the 800 smallest post offices at a loss of £17 per visit. Some 4 million fewer people are using the post office each year than two years ago but there are currently 14,300 post offices – 8 times the number of Tesco stores. 8.5 million out of a total of 10.8 million pensioners now get their pensions paid into a bank account.