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Welsh Affairs

I entirely agree. I also think that, as some council offices are having to close, a small amount could be paid to a post office to function as a one-stop shop providing information. I assure the hon. Gentleman that we will work as vigorously as we can on a cross-party basis. We should ask whether the Government can reverse the policy on television and road fund licences, benefit payments and so forth. As we know, the Post Office card account may or may not still be with us in years to come. There are problems ahead, and although they are avoidable, they are likely to hit Wales far harder than other parts of the United Kingdom because of the nature of the country. It contains some deprived urban areas but also semi-rural valleys, and large parts of it are rural. I hope that the Government will think again. I know that all Members, including Ministers, will be concerned about what is happening in their localities. On 28 January last month, the Secretary of State himself said in The Daily Telegraph:"““Where there are large numbers of people who rely on the Post Office, or where transport to other offices is difficult, the Post Office need to think carefully about the impact of their plans…they are important to communities and to those who use them, especially older people and those who don't own a car.””" Finally, the right hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Alun Michael), who apparently succeeded in rescuing one of his post offices, said:"““We presented a dossier…this is a victory for common sense.””" That implies that there is not much sense in the Government policy. There was not much sense in voting for it in the first place and then complaining, either. These issues will be with us for months to come and there is a cross-party consensus on some of them. I am not whingeing here today; there are a lot of good things about Wales. There is a great deal of inward investment, we have fantastic universities, we have innovative young people, and we are set for clean energy. We have several things on the horizon but they could be better. I am afraid that some of the problems are man-made, and made by this place. They must be reversed.