Closed Post Office

Closed Post Office
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Last week I needed to post some parcels. Since I was going to Birmingham, I thought I'd just drop in to the Post Office in the cetnre of the city and do them there.

But it's closed.

Apparently the Post Office has reviewed its services and decided that the Office in the middle of the UK's second city isn't needed any more. We can all wander up broad street to Victoria Square and use that one. Or another somewhere I couldn't work out as the map was rubbish if you were on foot - and since this is a pedestrianised area that's the only option.

Genius. After all, no-one will ever need to use postal services or anything else in the middle of a city will they ?

Now I understand the reasons for all this. Essentially the Government has seen a Post Office in every town and village as A Bad Thing. You see it provides servies to the whole community. Do you know that you can send a letter anywhere in the UK for the same price ? Whta a discrace ! What had better close all the branches down - so we'll get a management in with just that plan.

Best of all there are plenty of businesses who want to pick up the lucrative trade delivering items within urban conurbations. So thats' businesses in the London OK then. And politicians after they leave thier current berths. Plenty of cushy directorships available.

In the meantime local councils are encouraged to open up One Stop Shops - providing many of the services the local PO used to. In fact some include a PO as part of the setup.

I appreciate that the destruction of frontline public service in favour of pointless quangoes employing expensive consulatants is seen as progress by all political parties. It does beg the question what point our political masters are though when they have fobbed everything off to buisness.