There has been very little that has characterised this Labour Government more than its complete contempt for the countryside and rural issues. [yes OK - there's spin, sleaze, scandal, total economic collapse, inner-city social breakdown and lying to go to war, oh and .....].
So it with some relief that we can read that the next Conservative government is going to do more than just an arithmetical calculation when the issue of closures of rural facilities like Post Offices and village schools comes up.
Post Offices have been badly hit under Labour, who have closed 1400 of them since 2000. Clearly there are always going to be some that are not viable with a tiny customer base, but often even these can be successfully incorporated into other businesses, pubs etc., but Labour has always seemed to fall headlong into the trap it always accused Tories of - just doing the calculations about the finances and doing nothing about the social value of vital village facilities. Even worse, Labour seems to have been hell-bent on systematically undermining small post offices with every change in benefits, pensions, car tax etc. They are often the hub of a community.
It is great to hear the announcement that the social factors will need be taken into consideration under a Conservative government. We hope that we will also hear statements along the same lines about village schools from our Assembly team. The countryside does matter.
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