Here lies the rural Post Office. Born : Victorian Times, died of deliberate neglect : 2007

So it is to be announced that at least 2500 post offices are to close as the government lets private industry take over post office services.

Of course, this will be the death knell of rural post offices in particular. However, the ITN News this evening indicated that it could be even worse with several thousand more post offices likely to be made redundant by "Pay Points" being put in to other shops.

Anyone who knows anything about rural life will know that Post Offices are much more than a place to buy stamps and post letters. They are the very life blood of villages.

Let's make sure that voters always remember that it was Labour that destroyed the Post Office.