Campaigning to save post offices

AFTER THE announcement in June that 22 post offices would close in Leeds, three in the Beeston area alone, as part of the government's closure programme Beeston Communities Against Post Office Closures (CAPOC) campaign launched into action. We held well-supported local residents' protests some of which got on the local ITV news.

Manny Dominguez

The post offices were closed in August but on 19 November we lobbied Leeds council, calling on them to re-open and run the 22 closed post offices in Leeds as a viable public service. We presented a petition with well over 2,000 names on it.

I spoke to the mayor and councillors about our demand. I said that the post offices should never have closed, they are a public service. Billions of pounds of our money has bailed out the banks in the economic crisis, so the money is there to halt and reverse the closure programme. It shows whose interests this government serves; and it's not the interests of ordinary working-class people!

Our claim will now be heard by the council's Executive Board. The CAPOC campaign has huge support amongst local residents and Leeds Socialist Party members will be playing an influential role in preparing for the battles to come.

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In The Socialist 26 November 2008:

Socialist Party NHS campaign

Darling's prescription... It's spend, spend, spend on the banks... but cuts, cuts, cuts for the NHS