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Opposition day on Wednesday, 19 March 2008, in the House of Commons, led by Alan Duncan. The answering member was Lord Hutton of Furness.

Post Office Closures

Post office closures. Seventh Opposition day debate. Motion negatived on division (288 to 268). Amendment agreed on division (290 to 251)

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
473 c946-1048 
Session
2007-08
Department
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 473 c1010 (Link to this contribution) Order. I judge that on such an occasion it might be more important for hon. Members to be able to ge...
Speaker | 473 c1027 (Link to this contribution) As time is very limited, if Members limit their speeches to three minutes, more of them may be able ...
Show all contributions (332)
Speaker | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before the hon. Gentleman responds, I advise the House that the word ““sneaky”” is just about...
Speaker | 473 c946 (Link to this contribution) We now come to the main business, the Opposition day debate on post office closures. I have to tell ...
Speaker | 473 c946 (Link to this contribution) We now come to the main business, the Opposition day debate on post office closures. I have to tell ...
Baroness Teather | 473 c977 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my hon. Friend about the consultation process, which has caused more anger a...
Simon Hughes | 473 c977 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that not only do we have a policy for investing some capital at the beginn...
Baroness Teather | 473 c977 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to my hon. Friend first and then to the hon. Gentleman.
Baroness Teather | 473 c977 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way in a few moments when I have finished what I am saying. There is a huge sense of fr...
Annette Brooke | 473 c977 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend rightly raises the issue of consultation. Does she share with me the concerns raised ...
Baroness Teather | 473 c977 (Link to this contribution) It is a common complaint when consultations are arranged over a holiday period as it is difficult fo...
Julia Goldsworthy | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) I am sure my hon. Friend is aware that £6 of every £10 withdrawn from a post office—either from a Po...
Baroness Teather | 473 c975 (Link to this contribution) I will give way again in a moment. These closures will rip the heart out of the community. They are...
Geraldine Smith | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady aware of the relationship between Royal Mail and the Post Office? If Royal Mail wer...
Baroness Teather | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. I tried to make the point earlier about footfall and the lo...
Alan Duncan | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) The real problem with the hon. Lady's policy is that she wants to get a lump of money from a one-off...
Baroness Teather | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) That is not true at all. I am sure that Secretary of State will tell everyone that that is not the c...
Baroness Teather | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) We want to finance a lump sum in order to modernise the network and to allow investment in infrastru...
Baroness Teather | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) I just made a point about investing in the capital and other infrastructure in post offices. It is a...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c970 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I want the Post Office to consider the proposal from Essex county council seriously. I have mad...
Nicholas Winterton | 473 c969 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Will the Secretary of State seriously consider the proposition by E...
Speaker | 473 c969 (Link to this contribution) Order. That is enough of an intervention. The Secretary of State has indicated that he wants to make...
Nicholas Winterton | 473 c969 (Link to this contribution) I am one of those who was here when the Conservative party was in government. I want to ask two ques...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c969 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Lady knows, the regulator has already made such a proposal, which will have to be carefu...
Baroness Teather | 473 c969 (Link to this contribution) Let me take the Secretary of State back to his comments about the parcel collection service. Does he...
Speaker | 473 c969 (Link to this contribution) Order. Interjections from sedentary positions make it difficult, not only for the House to know what...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c969 (Link to this contribution) I accept the admonition, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is my fault for responding to the childish observati...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c968 (Link to this contribution) Apparently, he is not saying that, though he was hinting at it. The point of our actions is keep tho...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c971 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not going to give way. A number of points have been made about the access criteria, and so...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c971 (Link to this contribution) I understand that the Post Office has already agreed to do that in some cases in Essex. I hope that ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c970 (Link to this contribution) I must now take into account other Members' desire to contribute to the debate and I will make a lit...
Rob Marris | 473 c970 (Link to this contribution) I should like to reinforce my right hon. Friend's point. The difficulty with the Conservatives' moti...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c971 (Link to this contribution) I agree strongly with my hon. Friend. We have to be clear: all the costs that he referred to are met...
Baroness Teather | 473 c973 (Link to this contribution) The Chamber is full of hon. Members hoping to make speeches about the closure of their local post of...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c973 (Link to this contribution) I have already given way to hon. Gentleman once on this point. I now intend to conclude my remarks. ...
John Baron | 473 c972 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way on that point?
Baroness Teather | 473 c974 (Link to this contribution) Let me get started. I am sorry that the Conservatives feel we have commandeered the issue, but I fi...
Kali Mountford | 473 c971 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way on that very point. Will he warn people—especia...
Frank Dobson | 473 c972 (Link to this contribution) Although I entirely endorse my right hon. Friend's views on the opportunistic activities of the Tori...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c972 (Link to this contribution) Obviously I do not know the precise details of the consultation in my right hon. Friend's constituen...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c971-2 (Link to this contribution) Let me reassure my hon. Friend that she really has no reason to worry about the Liberal Democrats in...
Baroness Teather | 473 c975 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my right hon. Friend. The truth is that the Government are presiding over the managed d...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 473 c974-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will have noticed, as I did, that the Secretary of State was unwilling to give way to...
Baroness Teather | 473 c975 (Link to this contribution) We are not proposing to privatise the Post Office. We are proposing to part-privatise Royal Mail, an...
Michael Jabez Foster | 473 c975 (Link to this contribution) How would the hon. Lady's list of proper concerns square with the Lib Dems' proposal to privatise th...
Simon Burns | 473 c974 (Link to this contribution) From my experience, the only campaigning that the Liberal Democrats did when Chelmsford was facing p...
Baroness Teather | 473 c974 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman sounds as though he is complaining about the Liberal Democrats commandeering the ...
Baroness Teather | 473 c974 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman wishes me to give way, no doubt so that he can complain about a post office closu...
Mark Hendrick | 473 c974 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not want to complain. I just want to bring the hon. Lady back to the point about the Libera...
Baroness Teather | 473 c974 (Link to this contribution) I was about to say that I do not have any faith that the Government have a sustainable plan for the ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to give way for the moment.
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c963 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that there is such a thing as a genuinely independent newspaper. I personally have not rea...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman wants to raise the same point, then I have already dealt with it, although he ...
Anne Snelgrove | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) No, that is not what the Post Office is saying. Let me try to deal with the point by referring to wh...
Anne Snelgrove | 473 c965 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way; he is being very generous with his time. I share concer...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c965 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that that is the case, given the arguments that the Conservative party has been tryin...
James Brokenshire | 473 c965 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, and then I really would like to make progress. So far, I have...
James Paice | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way, albeit with reluctance. The serious point is...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) I accept that that is an important point. I was going to deal with it later, but I shall try to deal...
Mark Francois | 473 c964 (Link to this contribution) That is what they are telling us.
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c965 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not give way to the hon. Gentleman now. If he will allow me, I would like to make progres...
Alan Duncan | 473 c965 (Link to this contribution) May I cite to the Secretary of State some figures pertinent to what he just said? From 1993 to 1994,...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c966 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. Let us be clear about this, because we need to hear it from the hon. Member for Rut...
Ed Davey | 473 c966 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 473 c966 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c966 (Link to this contribution) I agree. I do not think that postponing a difficult decision is ever the right thing to do, but that...
Simon Hughes | 473 c966 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c966 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman shakes his head because we know that is what he is going to say. But that is why ...
Russell Brown | 473 c966 (Link to this contribution) Post Office Ltd needs to compete for business. All that the Conservatives are saying is that they wo...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c966-7 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not give way for a while now. The hon. Member for Rutland and Melton asked why the Post ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c965-6 (Link to this contribution) I am not disputing the hon. Gentleman's figures about profit, but that is not the argument. The argu...
Lord Benyon | 473 c967 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c967 (Link to this contribution) With great respect to the hon. Gentleman, I am going to make progress. If the Post Office operated ...
Alistair Carmichael | 473 c967 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c967-8 (Link to this contribution) No. Let us remember that, even after the closure programme is over, the Post Office will still have...
David Jones | 473 c968 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c968 (Link to this contribution) Not for the moment. The Post Office has begun to exploit the great potential offered by internet sh...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c967 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman made specific reference to the lottery as well. It is important to recognise what...
Alan Duncan | 473 c967 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has got this completely wrapped around his neck. Our complaint is about what ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c963 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Member for New Forest, East (Dr. Lewis) and then make progress.
Mark Francois | 473 c963 (Link to this contribution) Is it true that Postwatch is being abolished?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c962-3 (Link to this contribution) I would regard it as the duty of the Post Office to look seriously at arguments such as the hon. Gen...
Gerald Howarth | 473 c962 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Mr. Evennett) says, there is a widespread...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c962 (Link to this contribution) The decision has been taken that the post office network needs to be reduced. The consultation is ab...
David Evennett | 473 c962 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to what the Secretary of State is saying. My constituents in suburbia belie...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c962 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman and then make some progress.
Julian Lewis | 473 c963 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State accept that there is genuine concern about the validity of the consultat...
Mark Pritchard | 473 c961 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way; he is being very generous. Given that seven ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c961 (Link to this contribution) When I have dealt with my hon. Friend's point. When she has made those arguments, as I am sure she w...
Andy Reed | 473 c962 (Link to this contribution) Rightly, many Members have made specific representations on behalf of individual post offices, and p...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c961-2 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give the hon. Gentleman and the House that assurance. The ministerial code makes it ve...
Glenda Jackson | 473 c961 (Link to this contribution) I should like to reassure my right hon. Friend that I have no intention whatever of voting for the C...
Mark Pritchard | 473 c961 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c961 (Link to this contribution) I have a great deal of respect for my hon. Friend, who, like all other Members of this House, is per...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c962 (Link to this contribution) I would very much like the opportunity to do that, and if I can make some progress I will do so.
Hugh Bayley | 473 c960 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State confirm that three quarters of post office branches are not profitable a...
Tim Farron | 473 c960 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way; he and I share an interest in some of the ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c960 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), who is my constituency neig...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c960 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was specifically invited to comment on the issue at the beginning of the debate; ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c960 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend must have had a sneak preview of my speech, because I am going to make that point soo...
Alan Duncan | 473 c960 (Link to this contribution) As the Secretary of State well knows, I have. The spending plans have been publicly announced. They ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c959 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue about Essex; I want to say something spec...
David S Borrow | 473 c959 (Link to this contribution) In Lancashire, the consultation process finished two and a half weeks ago. When I received a letter ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c959 (Link to this contribution) Let me finish my point. Many hon. Members on both sides of the House will be interested in exploring...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c959 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that point. In a few minutes, I want to come to the substance of the motion.
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c959 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way in a moment. I want to come to the substance of the Opposition motion. As my hon. F...
Alan Duncan | 473 c957 (Link to this contribution) Today, however, we learned something else, and the finger of suspicion points at the Secretary of St...
Alan Duncan | 473 c957 (Link to this contribution) I cannot give any polite logical explanation for the perceptive observations of my hon. Friend. The...
Lord Soames of Fletching | 473 c957 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend says ““every constituency””. Can he offer any logical explanation why four post offic...
Alan Duncan | 473 c957 (Link to this contribution) Today is an opportunity for the Secretary of State to enjoy a massive political revival. He could ma...
Alan Duncan | 473 c956 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way. I want to conclude so that hon. Members, such as those on their feet, will get ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c958 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Member for Billericay (Mr. Baron), and then to my hon. Friend the Membe...
John Baron | 473 c959 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the Secretary of State is saying. However, he has to accept that we have a ludicrous sit...
Speaker | 473 c957 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman knows better than that.
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c958 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, To leave out from ““House”” to the end of the Question, and to add instead thereof:"“...
John Baron | 473 c958 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c958 (Link to this contribution) I shall in a minute. I shall give way to as many hon. Members as I can, but I ask for the House's in...
Alan Duncan | 473 c954 (Link to this contribution) The post office network and shops are private enterprises. Families have risked money and borrowed—o...
Ian Liddell-Grainger | 473 c954 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I can give my hon. Friend some more ammunition. In Bicknoller in my constituency, we have a ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c954 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my hon. Friend, and then I want to say why what is happening at the moment is esp...
Alan Duncan | 473 c953-4 (Link to this contribution) I shall make a few more points; I promised I would not take up too much time, but this has been a sh...
Alan Duncan | 473 c953 (Link to this contribution) I have never called for a specific number. I am calling for some logic in the judgment on which post...
Andy Reed | 473 c953 (Link to this contribution) I would like the hon. Gentleman to return to the point that he started to make, but failed to finish...
Alan Duncan | 473 c953 (Link to this contribution) I give way to the hon. Gentleman, a fellow Leicestershire MP.
Alan Duncan | 473 c956 (Link to this contribution) The same as is proposed, but the purpose of our argument is that it can go further if people are not...
Jeremy Wright | 473 c955 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there may be something else that we are in danger of losing—the post ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c955 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman really thinks that the future viability of the Post Office will be undermined ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c955-6 (Link to this contribution) I shall make progress and then give Labour Members a final chance to chip in. I am conscious of the ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c955 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. I have no doubt that it will be made in the debate in future.
Rob Marris | 473 c955 (Link to this contribution) It is standard business practice. I know that as a lawyer working in employment law. There are restr...
Alan Duncan | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) I really should give way, one final time, to the hon. Member for Brent, East (Sarah Teather), the of...
Baroness Teather | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman likes to portray himself as the saviour of the post office network, but he does n...
Alan Duncan | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) Well, I think that I am obliged to give way to the Front Bencher of another party.
Roger Gale | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. A few moments ago, an hon. Member suggested that the Select...
Alan Duncan | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) I will have a pause from taking interventions; I shall take more in two or three minutes.
Alan Duncan | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman had already stuck his finger in the fire; he would have been well advised not to ...
Speaker | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) Order. That is not, strictly speaking, a point of order for the Chair. It is more a matter that woul...
Alan Duncan | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) The time was when an hon. Member who had been put right with the kind of accuracy that my hon. Frien...
Alan Duncan | 473 c953 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Today we are hearing, basically from Members on both sides of th...
Alan Duncan | 473 c951-2 (Link to this contribution) The investment in the post office network is, to a large extent, already done by private individuals...
Chris Ruane | 473 c952 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Alan Duncan | 473 c952 (Link to this contribution) No. Sub-postmasters should be able to develop more financial services; they should be able to take ...
Hugh Bayley | 473 c952 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Alan Duncan | 473 c952-3 (Link to this contribution) No. I will move on, as I said I would. First, there are the flawed access criteria. They are simple...
Michael Jabez Foster | 473 c953 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman talks about maintaining viable post offices, but in fact only 4,000 post offices ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c953 (Link to this contribution) I can but quote the hon. Gentleman's own website. To use his exact words, he"““condemned the decisio...
Jeremy Hunt | 473 c953 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend on the way in which he is making his case. Is he concerned that the 2,...
Richard Burden | 473 c984 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has had a go, and as many other Members wish to speak, I shall now conclude. We must ...
James Paice | 473 c985-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to be called so early in the debate. It was clear from the Secretary of State's respon...
Ian Cawsey | 473 c988-9 (Link to this contribution) It is an honour to follow the hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice). We normally end...
Dan Rogerson | 473 c986 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a good point about the social element of what a post office provides, p...
James Paice | 473 c987-8 (Link to this contribution) I do, of course, agree. I am sure that all hon. Members who represent constituencies where the consu...
James Paice | 473 c986 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman, and that will be my two interventions done.
Bill Wiggin | 473 c986 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and is being characteristically generous in giving way....
James Paice | 473 c986 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes his point admirably. I am sure that everyone who represents a rural area could ...
Baroness Teather | 473 c980 (Link to this contribution) I have already given way to the hon. Gentleman. I want to finish my speech, as I know that many othe...
Barry Gardiner | 473 c983 (Link to this contribution) I listened carefully to what my hon. Friend said about the effect on queuing in urban areas. Does he...
Richard Burden | 473 c983-4 (Link to this contribution) That is a very good point. Post Office Ltd has talked about investing in the network and upgrading i...
Justine Greening | 473 c984 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the criteria are meaningless, as this is a reverse engineering p...
Richard Burden | 473 c984 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is running a number of things together, and she is wrong. If she is arguing that there...
Baroness Teather | 473 c981 (Link to this contribution) We need a serious plan of investment, which the Conservative party does not have—but neither do the ...
Richard Burden | 473 c981-2 (Link to this contribution) Let me begin by explaining some of the background to my interest in this issue. I was a member of th...
Martin Salter | 473 c982 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has much joy to look forward to when the Conservatives get their teeth into the issue...
Richard Burden | 473 c982-3 (Link to this contribution) Let us hope not, but I am not holding my breath. This is a serious issue, and I hope that Opposition...
Bob Spink | 473 c978 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady, who is at least trying to come forward with some constructive propos...
Mark Francois | 473 c978 (Link to this contribution) Quite a few references have already been made to the innovative proposals from Conservative-controll...
Baroness Teather | 473 c978-9 (Link to this contribution) What we want is a sustainable programme, but it is obviously for local councils to decide what they ...
Baroness Teather | 473 c978 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman may be independent, but he is still a Conservative, as he can get Europe into alm...
Baroness Teather | 473 c978 (Link to this contribution) Let me make some progress, as I promised to be a brief speaker and I am failing miserably so far. A...
Chris Huhne | 473 c979-80 (Link to this contribution) I am following the case that my hon. Friend is making, particularly in respect of the costs to the G...
Baroness Teather | 473 c980 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely. There are many hidden costs of which the Government have taken no account. We have...
Ed Davey | 473 c979 (Link to this contribution) Did my hon. Friend notice that when the Secretary of State was trying to suggest that the closures w...
Baroness Teather | 473 c979 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It is as if the Government were making a deliberate attempt ...
Ian Cawsey | 473 c990 (Link to this contribution) A few weeks after being told that the office at Wrawby was viable, I was told that it no longer was....
Justine Greening | 473 c990 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is reinforcing the point that I made earlier—that all the access and other criter...
Ian Cawsey | 473 c989-90 (Link to this contribution) I would agree with that, based on my experience. Goole is a good example. We were told, ““It's an u...
Stephen Hammond | 473 c989 (Link to this contribution) Whether the consultation was a sham or not, did not the hon. Gentleman's constituents have the same ...
Richard Younger-Ross | 473 c994 (Link to this contribution) On the previous consultations, is the hon. Gentleman surprised to hear that in 98 per cent. of cases...
Andrew Turner | 473 c994 (Link to this contribution) I do. It is not the numbers that matter, but the cost. The company does not seem to consider that. I...
John Hemming | 473 c994 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has revealed how Post Office Ltd seems uninterested in public demand. Does he agr...
Andrew Turner | 473 c993-4 (Link to this contribution) Post office closures have hit many communities extremely hard. The Isle of Wight is no different. In...
Ian Cawsey | 473 c990-3 (Link to this contribution) I understand exactly where the hon. Gentleman is coming from. What transactions are undertaken in p...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 473 c990 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is touching on a problem that I have encountered in the north of Lewis. The postm...
Andrew Turner | 473 c994-5 (Link to this contribution) I come to my second point. In answer to a parliamentary question, the Minister confirmed that only 7...
Andrew Turner | 473 c994 (Link to this contribution) I recognise that, but I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman has only just come into the Chamber; I had ...
John Penrose | 473 c996 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with great interest to the hon. Gentleman's account of the Select Committee's inquiry...
Michael Clapham | 473 c995 (Link to this contribution) Consultations have not yet started in my constituency, just as they have not in that of the hon. Mem...
Mike Weir | 473 c996 (Link to this contribution) Is the situation not slightly worse? As part of the evidence, we discovered that, on occasion, where...
Michael Clapham | 473 c996 (Link to this contribution) We were focusing purely on the network change programme, although we moved into other areas in consi...
Michael Clapham | 473 c996-7 (Link to this contribution) I have taken my two interventions. The clock is moving on and many others want to speak in the debat...
Lee Scott | 473 c996 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lee Scott | 473 c999 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree with me about the flawed consultation? When I met the Post Office to discu...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 473 c999 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman entirely. It is a great shame and a disgrace that those entrepreneur...
David Leslie Taylor | 473 c998-9 (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman be surprised to find that, like many other hon. Members whose constituencie...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 473 c997-8 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham), although his ...
John Hemming | 473 c1000 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 473 c999 (Link to this contribution) The fact is that these sub-post offices provide something that we all agree is unique and very speci...
Justine Greening | 473 c999 (Link to this contribution) Another example would be the Lower Richmond Road post office, which is threatened with closure. Post...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 473 c999 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree with my hon. Friend more. We have been hearing repeatedly this afternoon that the ...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 473 c1000 (Link to this contribution) No, I must keep going. The hon. Gentleman can have his own turn later if he manages to catch your ey...
William Cash | 473 c1000 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman have any confidence, as I do in relation to Staffordshire, that the Essex so...
Michael Jabez Foster | 473 c1000 (Link to this contribution) There is a kind of wake going on in Hastings and Rye this week, because three of our post offices ha...
Dawn Butler | 473 c1001 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend's point. Does he agree that we have to fight for a sustainabl...
Michael Jabez Foster | 473 c1000-1 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I do believe that there might be alternatives. Indeed, there might be other methodologies that ...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge | 473 c1002 (Link to this contribution) I understand what the hon. Gentleman is saying, but does he think it is good business practice to cl...
Michael Jabez Foster | 473 c1001-2 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my hon. Friend about the sort of vintage hypocrisy that we hear on the Oppos...
Tim Loughton | 473 c1003-6 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to have been called. I am particularly delighted to follow the hon. Member for Hastin...
Martin Salter | 473 c1006-7 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the impassioned plea by the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (T...
Alan Duncan | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) I will, and then I shall do a rat-a-tat-tat after that.
Mike Weir | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Alan Duncan | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is right, but only half right. The Post Office has declined to embrace both vol...
Oliver Letwin | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that one concern for people in constituencies such as mine in West Dorset is...
Ann Clwyd | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) I was not one of those who signed the early-day motion that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned, but is...
Alan Duncan | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) Much more sneaky is the fact that the hon. Gentleman is trying to hide behind the supposed conclusio...
Michael Clapham | 473 c948 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee—what ...
Martin Salter | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman, who will be pleased to know that I plan to make some fairly harsh critic...
Alan Duncan | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) In my view it is, and I shall explain why in a moment. Finally, at least for the moment, I give way ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) I will not do that, and furthermore I do not need to do that to win the argument today, because the ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) There is a grave suspicion that a lot of the tactics involved are underhand.
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government and the Post Office have carried out the consultation ...
Lord Bellingham | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the shadow Secretary of State, as he is being very patient and ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) I shall take one more intervention from each side, then make some progress. I give way first to my h...
Alan Duncan | 473 c950 (Link to this contribution) I would love to see the envelope on the back of which that arbitrary number was written.
Mike Weir | 473 c949-50 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. As a member of the BERR Committee, I should point out tha...
Robert Smith | 473 c947 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I thought that he might have been giving the Government t...
Alan Duncan | 473 c947 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Gentleman, and then to my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for D...
Robert Smith | 473 c947 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Alan Duncan | 473 c946-7 (Link to this contribution) I have hardly got off first base, but I will. If I may, I will set the scene and then give way to a ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c946 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House regrets the proposal to close up to 2,500 post offices; recognises th...
Alan Duncan | 473 c948 (Link to this contribution) Again, my hon. Friend makes a good point. It fits exactly with the picture that we are painting—a pi...
Robert Key | 473 c948 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is wholly right about displaced closures, but the problem is worse than he suggests. ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c947 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is potentially right, but we must distinguish between the post office network and...
Marquess of Lothian | 473 c947 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my hon. Friend. He was talking about the process by which the decision about c...
Alan Duncan | 473 c947 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. and learned Friend illustrates exactly the sort of example that is driving Members of ...
Tony Baldry | 473 c947-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend said that the consultation process was unfair, but is it not also fraudulent? In my a...
Alan Duncan | 473 c948 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a crucial point. It is something that I want to expand on, ever so briefly, in ...
Hugh Bayley | 473 c948 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee has r...
Alan Duncan | 473 c948 (Link to this contribution) Because I think that it is improper for a Front Bencher to try and pre-empt and influence a Select C...
Alan Simpson | 473 c1012 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend speaks for many Labour Members who have engaged with the consultation and worked with...
Alan Reid | 473 c1010-2 (Link to this contribution) The Government's post office closure programme is a complete muddle. There is simply no logic in the...
Martin Salter | 473 c1008-10 (Link to this contribution) I am aware of the battle royal in Brent between the political parties, and I could never be as horri...
Martin Salter | 473 c1007-8 (Link to this contribution) No. Before I criticise the further irresponsible tactics of the Opposition on this issue, may I just...
Andy Reed | 473 c1007 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friend knows, the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Alan Duncan) said during those earl...
Martin Salter | 473 c1007 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. The Conservatives' position gets far worse, but that wi...
Geraldine Smith | 473 c1012 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I agree completely. The consultation has been a complete sham. I think that everyone in the Hou...
Nick Gibb | 473 c1014-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that important intervention. He will make a great advocate for L...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 473 c1014 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree with the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Geraldine Smith) that th...
Nick Gibb | 473 c1014 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes a telling point. The view is shared by many people in Bognor Regis and Li...
Boris Johnson | 473 c1014 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. I speak for Henley, where we face closures in Stanton S...
Speaker | 473 c1014 (Link to this contribution) Order. I ask the hon. Gentleman to respect the fact that we must have short interventions.
David Leslie Taylor | 473 c1013 (Link to this contribution) I declare an interest: I am from the fourth generation of a post office family, and have two post of...
Speaker | 473 c1013 (Link to this contribution) Order. It is an abuse to take so much time on an intervention when we are very tight for time and ma...
Geraldine Smith | 473 c1013 (Link to this contribution) The key to helping the post office network survive is making sure that new business is found for it....
Nick Gibb | 473 c1013-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Geraldine Smith), who has al...
Philip Dunne | 473 c1016 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend's description of his constituency mirrors much of the experience in mine, where local...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 473 c1016 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. G...
David Evennett | 473 c1019-20 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that we are holding a debate on a subject of considerable concern to my constituents an...
Baroness Hoey | 473 c1018-9 (Link to this contribution) I shall be very brief. Any member of the public reading the Opposition's motion would find it strang...
Gordon Prentice | 473 c1022-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall be very brief, but I want it put on the record that I will vote for the Conservative motion ...
Lord Benyon | 473 c1020-2 (Link to this contribution) I shall try to be as brief as I can. I start by declaring an interest. I own a building that contain...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1037 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend asks a good question. Voting for the motion will not save post offices because the Co...
James Gray | 473 c1037 (Link to this contribution) The Minister says that some post offices cost £17 per transaction. Perhaps he could do what Allan Le...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1037 (Link to this contribution) I will not for the moment. The divide is about whether we support the Government's investments or w...
Anne Snelgrove | 473 c1037 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening to the debate today with great interest. Will the Minister tell me how voting ...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1038 (Link to this contribution) The thing driving the closures is, of course, the loss of custom and money. That is what is behind t...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1037 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman had been listening, he would have heard me say that the commercial network is ...
Alan Duncan | 473 c1038 (Link to this contribution) In the process of deciding which post offices should close, what is the principal criterion—profitab...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1037 (Link to this contribution) I shall come to the access criteria later. Funding is a critical weakness of the Opposition motion....
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 473 c1037 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister tell me how many villages in the Vale of York will be more than 3 miles away by ca...
Greg Mulholland | 473 c1030 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentions several good reasons. The Far Headingley post office in my constituency is a...
Mark Williams | 473 c1030 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. In Ceredigion, we have the largest proportion of small businesses of anywhe...
Peter Soulsby | 473 c1030-1 (Link to this contribution) It may be that the Conservative motion is opportunistic and cynical, but I happen to agree with ever...
Charles Hendry | 473 c1031-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Leicester, South (Sir Peter Soulsby), who gave ...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1036 (Link to this contribution) We have seen from the debate today the strong feelings that post office closures can arouse not only...
Greg Hands | 473 c1036 (Link to this contribution) The Minister visited a post office in my constituency last week which is housed by WH Smith in Kings...
Speaker | 473 c1036 (Link to this contribution) Order. Just one point at a time.
Pat McFadden | 473 c1036 (Link to this contribution) I visited the post office in WH Smith and spoke to customers there. That post office is operating we...
Mark Williams | 473 c1029-30 (Link to this contribution) Of necessity, I shall be brief, as I have to address the issue of six potential post office closures...
Lord Robathan | 473 c1040 (Link to this contribution) rose in his place and claimed to move, That the Question be now put. Question, That the Question be...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1039-40 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I do not have time to give way again. To give some sense of perspective, let me sa...
Simon Hughes | 473 c1039 (Link to this contribution) Given that the Minister will not change his policy on delaying consultation, will he at least instru...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1039 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, the Post Office needs to be clearer about the consultation and about the question be...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1038 (Link to this contribution) I want to make progress. [Hon. Members: ““Give way!””] I have given way a few times, and I would lik...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1038 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I want to make progress. Many Members raised the issue of consultation, including ...
Speaker | 473 c1039 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sorry to interrupt the Minister, but there is too much noise in the House. We have had a...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1038 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I want to make progress. People have a choice about how to pay their car tax, and ...
Douglas Carswell | 473 c1028-9 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that there is a fundamental inconsistency in the Government's plans? On th...
Angela Watkinson | 473 c1029 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I was expecting customer representation from Postwatch, but at the meeting ...
Angela Watkinson | 473 c1028 (Link to this contribution) I shall be as brief as possible in order to allow colleagues to make some brief remarks. It was enco...
Mark Hendrick | 473 c1027-8 (Link to this contribution) I begin by referring to a letter from the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry). It was addressed...
David Heath | 473 c1023-5 (Link to this contribution) We learned three weeks ago how many closures Somerset would face. The figures are very clear: in the...
David Burrowes | 473 c1023 (Link to this contribution) In that context, will he invite all three Enfield MPs, who have been united in wanting to save the a...
Gordon Prentice | 473 c1023 (Link to this contribution) I give way to my friend over there.
Simon Burns | 473 c971 (Link to this contribution) On the question of the Essex scheme, would the Secretary of State be prepared to try to persuade the...
Dawn Butler | 473 c1008 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree with Billy Hayes, the CWU general secretary, who says that we should not f...
Andrew Murrison | 473 c976 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady believe that the number of post offices we have now is about right and that they ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c963 (Link to this contribution) Postwatch is going to form part of a new, invigorated national consumer council. [Laughter.] Let me ...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c960 (Link to this contribution) We have not prevented local authorities from making arguments about how there could be a sustainable...
Alan Duncan | 473 c957 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but it affects every constituency. That is why it is pertinent for me to point out that 90 Memb...
Michael Clapham | 473 c951 (Link to this contribution) I will read out the recommendation in the report. It says quite clearly:"““We do not think it is sat...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 473 c1016-8 (Link to this contribution) As always, my hon. Friend makes pertinent points on behalf of his constituents. He looks after them ...
Michael Jabez Foster | 473 c1002-3 (Link to this contribution) Of course not, and if it is wholly profitable, that is great, but it should not be subsidised. The i...
Gordon Prentice | 473 c1023 (Link to this contribution) Anyone who is serious about trying to save the post offices in their constituency—whether it be in E...
David Evennett | 473 c1020 (Link to this contribution) I intend no disrespect to the hon. Gentleman, but we do not have much time and I know that everyone ...
David Jones | 473 c1026-7 (Link to this contribution) Given the limited time available, I shall refrain from criticising the illogicality and stupidity of...
Alan Duncan | 473 c949 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I think that the right hon. Lady should be aware of her own words. Sh...
Lord Hutton of Furness | 473 c963-4 (Link to this contribution) I am not going to give way for the moment. I accept, of course, that people have expressed criticis...
Richard Burden | 473 c956 (Link to this contribution) A few moments ago, if I understood the hon. Gentleman correctly, he was arguing for more predictabil...
Alan Duncan | 473 c954-5 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to hon. Gentlemen in a moment. I want to make a couple of important points first. ...
Geraldine Smith | 473 c1012 (Link to this contribution) Not only do I have a constituency interest in the debate, but I worked for the Post Office for 18 ye...
Michael Clapham | 473 c996 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, and he raises an important aspect. Because of the opaq...
Pat McFadden | 473 c1039 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Many hon. Members talked about the consultation, which is about how,...
Subjects
Closures Post offices Post Office
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