In the political theatre of the Post Offices row last night, I think it is interesting to focus not on Party in-fighting, which actually grinds the gears of most voters, but who really legislated for this decision on behalf of the British voters. The Post Office “liberalization” legislation which has led to the closures is due to imposed postal services liberalization on a Directive from Brussels. The decision had long been surrendered by the UK Government to our European government in Brussels.
The decision to close or leave open the Post Offices was not made last night at all. It was made in the instructions of EU Directive 2002/39/EC, which was voluntarily agreed to long ago by the Government. Full liberalization of postal services will be achieved by 2009. Could all MPs have reneged on this legislation? In theory, yes, albeit with some difficulty. In practice, they never seem to.
I think the Tories gave it a good shot. However, last night’s vote was a confirmation of who really has the whip hand over the British people.
