Boost for Mail campaign as International Development Secretary demands a ...

Cabinet minister Rory Stewart last night broke ranks to demand action to save Britain’s post offices.

The International Development Secretary became the first senior politician to throw his weight behind the Mail’s campaign to stop the threat of branches closing in their thousands.

Mr Stewart, who has announced he will stand to be the next Tory leader, said post offices were the ‘hub of the community’.

He demanded the Government continue subsidies – a lifeline for many branches – beyond April 2021, when they are due to end. Communities Secretary James Brokenshire also said rural post offices were the ‘backbone of many communities’.

Cabinet minister Rory Stewart has become the first senior politician to support the Mail's campaign to halt the closure of post offices across the country

Cabinet minister Rory Stewart has become the first senior politician to support the Mail's campaign to halt the closure of post offices across the country

The International Development Secretary has also announced that he will run for the Tory leadership when Theresa May resigns

The International Development Secretary has also announced that he will run for the Tory leadership when Theresa May resigns

Theresa May last night said she ‘recognised how vital’ post offices are to their communities, but stopped short of committing to new action to preserve them.

The Mail’s Save Our Local Post Offices campaign calls on ministers to extend subsidies and ensure a full range of services are offered over the counter at branches.

We are also demanding that banks pay their way for the services post offices provide on their behalf and that sub-postmasters – the independent businessmen and women who run local branches – are fairly paid. Mr Stewart, who was promoted to the Cabinet earlier this month, yesterday heaped pressure on Business Secretary Greg Clark to act.

He said protecting post offices was central to what he believed in as a Conservative, as he started to lay out his pitch for why he should be leader.

Mr Stewart has been campaigning to save a post office in his Cumbrian constituency of Penrith and The Border, which is due to be closed and relocated inside a WHSmith store.

In an interview with the Mail, he said: ‘I’ve just spent a great deal of time over the last two months campaigning to keep the Penrith post office open.

Theresa May last night said she ‘recognised how vital’ post offices are to their communities, but stopped short of committing to new action to preserve them. (Pictured) Mark Baker who owns Larkhill post office in Wiltshire

Theresa May last night said she ‘recognised how vital’ post offices are to their communities, but stopped short of committing to new action to preserve them. (Pictured) Mark Baker who owns Larkhill post office in Wiltshire

‘I started my own petition and it was unbelievable. I got thousands of people to sign up very, very rapidly to save that post office.

‘Post Office Plc is arguing that it would be more efficient for them and cheaper to merge it with the local WHSmith, but they haven’t thought properly about disabled access, they haven’t thought about the way in which the post office is the centre and the hub of the community. 

'They haven’t thought about the fact there simply isn’t enough space in WHSmith to run a decent post office service.’

The minister added: ‘I think we need to challenge the fundamental assumption that we are better off moving into these smaller spaces. 

'I think that’s short-sighted and we need to have very tough conversations with the Post Office... if you look at Penrith post office, it is a busy, well-used place, it is not losing money and therefore the solution is to really think about how to innovate in that post office. 

'They could offer more services, be more entrepreneurial – not give up on it, but invest in it.’

Asked if he supported the Mail’s demand for subsidies to continue beyond April 2021, Mr Stewart said: ‘I would like the Government to continue to support post offices, and local community pubs and shops. I think these things are central to what I believe in as a Conservative, which is community.’

The Mail’s campaign launched this week amid an unprecedented crisis. Up to 2,500 post offices will close or be downsized in the next 12 months because of financial hardship, according to figures from the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters.

Around 1,000 have already shut and more than 3,000 branches in remote areas are only kept running because of Government subsidies.

The impending crisis will worsen the suffering on high streets, where 3,500 bank branches have already closed since the financial crisis began in 2007. 

The Prime Minister’s spokesman last night said: ‘We recognise how vital post office services are to communities with 11,500 branches across the country. That is why we have provided over £2billion of investment in the network since 2010, helping to modernise branches and ensure the Post Office is in its most financially stable position in decades.

‘Since April 2017, the Post Office has opened 440 new branches as part of the new network location strategy.’ 

Communities Secretary James Brokenshire said rural post offices are the ‘backbone of many communities and the Government is committed to helping them thrive for generations to come’.

He added: ‘The Post Office is one of the most-loved institutions of the Great British high street, and we want to see post offices flourish alongside their local communities. 

'Over 7,600 branches have been modernised and there are 200,000 additional opening hours to increase convenience for consumers.

'Millions of people across the country depend on their post office, whether it’s keeping in touch with family, paying their household bills or even for their livelihoods.’

... As under-threat staff share pain 

The owner of Britain’s most southerly post office fears cost-cutting could leave his rural community without a branch for the first time in 121 years.

Leonard Trott, 74, is only the fourth postmaster to run the remote branch on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, which provides a vital service for locals.

Faced with health complications, he has been trying to retire from the business after running it

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