THE closure of post offices is a game, the ball being tossed among Post Offices Ltd, the Government, politicians of various parties, even Royal Mail Group; with the bewildered, kept-in-the-dark public as spectators.

No-one is ready to slog the ball across the Channel to land in Brussels, where the damage originated. EU Postal Services Directives, 97/67/EC and 2002/39/EC, allowed Dutch (TNT) and German (DHL) postal agencies to invade and poach profitable business from our centuries-old national institution. Royal Mail is left, obliged to deliver letters and packets throughout the country at uniform prices.

The Government, ever over-obedient to EU rule, has withdrawn services that the Post Office traditionally supplied, adding to its difficulties.

Now the Post Office Card account is threatened. Thousands of pensioners using the account will be forced to turn to banks, many having to travel much further than to their local post office in order to collect their dues.

The National Federation of Sub-Postmasters has had printed a warning card to be available at all branches – "The Post Office Card Account is under threat. I want to save it!" On the back is a space for the name and address of any person in agreement. Sub- postmasters hope that more than four million of these cards will be sent by pensioners and drawers of benefit to their MPs.

An Early Day Motion (1506) has been laid before Parliament, attempting to preserve the Card Account. I urge all concerned to take a "Save It!" card and send it to their MP, asking him or her to sign the motion.

From: Mrs Barbara Stark, Ridgestone Avenue, Bilton.

WHY is it that in all the thousands of words which have been printed regarding the closure of the post offices, the real culprit, the European Union, is never mentioned?

From 2009, the Royal Mail monopoly will be phased out completely.

Some duplicitous politicians have been campaigning to keep post offices open in their constituencies. Yet in a Commons motion on March 19 this year, some of those same politicians voted for the closure programme to continue. The motion was carried.

From: Malcolm Naylor, Grange View, Otley.

THE closure of the post offices epitomises everything Labour stands for – capitalism and privatisation.

It also shows that this country is not a democracy when the voice of the people is ignored and essential services are run for profit by capitalists.

Elected MPs and councillors are powerless as big business takes over. Consultations are a sham. People have lost control to capitalists, and social inequality and environmental damage will result.

Post office closures will rip the heart out of communities. Around the country, 2,500 post offices have closed, many more will follow and it will be the elderly, disabled and pensioners who suffer the most.

Once lost, like the railway lines to rural communities, they will be gone forever.

Compare this with America, the home of capitalism, where all its post offices are government-run and controlled.

But when capitalists get in trouble, they come to the taxpayer to bale them our, like the Northern Rock fiasco, costing £3bn, and decommissioning of nuclear power stations, costing £73.6bn. And yet we have no say in any of these.

Taxpayers are paying £79bn for Trident missiles, £4bn on aircraft carriers, £500m on helicopters that can't fly, and who knows how much for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But post offices, drugs for cancer, care of the elderly and decent pensions are "unaffordable".

Labour started its attack on vulnerable groups in 1997 when Tony Blair cut benefits for disabled people.

Labour Party members and supporters should not feel disloyal at abandoning Labour. It died in 1997 and Blair was the undertaker who buried it. Take heed and act now to protect your democracy.

From: S Franks, Chapel Allerton, Leeds.

NAIVELY, as it turns out, we thought that sending items by first-class mail ensured their next-day delivery.

Rather late in the day, we've learned otherwise – our lesson courtesy of the Royal Mail.

Our daughter and her family had come for a visit, and after they'd driven off back to their home, near Portsmouth, we discovered our grandson's much-adored teddy bear with which he always goes to sleep.

Recognising a crisis, we rushed to our nearest Post Office to catch that Monday morning's first post and
sent it off first-class, rather expecting it to be delivered
the next day.

This was not to be; it didn't arrive until the day after, and so I wrote to the Royal Mail asking what was the point of forking out the extra for first-class when it's apparently no faster than second?

To which question we have now received this interesting reply: "We aim to deliver first-class mail on the working day after we collect it. These are known as the 'due dates'. I must stress these are the dates we aim for and are not guaranteed. Although we did not deliver your items by the due date, we do not class an item as being delayed if it is delivered within four working days of the due date."

So there you have it: first-class mail can be delivered four days after you put it in the post, and the Royal Mail doesn't consider it's been delayed.


The facts behind parking-ticket complaint

From: Don Mackenzie, Cabinet Member, Planning and Transport, Harrogate Borough Council.

I WRITE in reply to the letter from GB Greenwood, who received a ticket for parking
in a "permit holders only"
bay in Crescent Gardens, Harrogate (Yorkshire Post, August 12) .

In view of the comments made, I believe that your readers are entitled to receive the facts of the case.

Mr Greenwood parked in front of the council offices at 7.30pm on July 29, and placed his passenger's disabled parking permit (blue badge) on his dashboard. This permit allows the vehicle to park anywhere on the roadside, including on double-yellow lines for up to three hours free of charge, and for an unlimited time in pay-and-display spaces, and in designated disabled bays.

The permit does not allow parking in bays marked out for doctors, taxis, cyclists or permit holders. This exception protects rights of access for permit holders, who may have paid for the permit or, in the case of this public building, allows essential staff to be able to park when council meetings are taking place or in emergency situations.

I would like to assure Mr Greenwood that, apart from the Mayor of the Borough, neither members – nor officers – enjoy privileged parking on our roads. We do have parking discs, which allow us to park in bays next to the grassy area of Crescent Gardens, only when we are attending council or committee meetings. His concerns that we should be taxed on a benefit in kind can be allayed.

I have spoken by telephone to Mr Greenwood since reading his letter. I have assured him that this council is always eager to balance effective parking enforcement with empathy for drivers, who have particular difficulties, such as those displaying disabled permits. We co-operate closely with the local Access Group, and provide a large number of special parking bays.

The ticket was correctly issued in this instance. The warden was not to know that a passenger in the vehicle was a 92-year-old lady enjoying a visit to a concert at the Royal Hall. In view of this, the council will reconsider the parking fine.