Vince Cable

In a statement in parliament today, Alistair Darling announced that 2,500 of the remaining 14,000 sub post offices will close in the near future. In an exchange in parliament, he told MP Vincent Cable that although most of the cuts would be in rural areas he couldn't rule out closures in areas like Twickenham where 6 of the 18 branches have already closed in the last few years.

The government argues that because of declining business there are mounting losses which require a reduction in service, particularly in rural areas.

Vincent Cable said: "we have had a very difficult time locally particularly in areas like Hampton where residents have been caused serious inconvenience and difficulty by closures. The last thing we need is a further round of closures. Alistair Darling tried to be reassuring about constituencies like mine, acknowledging that big changes had already occurred, but would not rule out closures. There will be a great deal of ill feeling if that happens."

"The problems are at least partly of the government's making. Having encouraged pensioners to switch pension payouts to the banks they claim to be surprised that post offices are now losing business."