UKIP is delighted that the Post Office is re-opening in Quainton on the 11th March 09. Post Offices along with pubs, village shops, village schools are the hub of the community.But for how long?

However,why are so many Post Offices in Aylesbury Vale closing? The Lib Dems may be campaigning to ‘save’ them, but in reality it is pure hypocrisy. The reason so many post offices are closing is a direct result of EU legislation which was approved in the European Parliament with mass support from British MEPs, including Tories and Lib Dems and Labour.

The main effect of this was to take away the monopoly from Royal Mail and allow competition into the market. UKIP support competition, but this isn’t competition as we know it; it’s competition which exists to remove a popular national institution.

This legislation allowed other companies to join our postal market and cream off the profitable parts, such as the business post, leaving Royal Mail with the domestic post and the ‘final mile’ delivery. They also have the Universal Service Obligation of delivering a letter anywhere in the country to anywhere in the country for a fixed price.

In 2006 when this legislation supported by the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour fully came into force it was the first year in its history that Royal Mail made a loss; £29 million. This meant that it could not divert profits to the Post Office to help them fund the local and rural counters. In fact, only 2000-4000 post offices are actually needed to provide the service demanded by the EU and the network is currently more than 14,000. I predict further closures in the future.

2,500 post offices are going to be closed and no amount of protest or consultation will change that. It was decided by the European Commission and the British government in the second half of last year. The Commission are involved because any state aid has to be approved by Brussels. The meetings, committees and written evidence was all a diversionary tactic to hi