THE father of our postal system, Sir Rowland Hill, was born in Blackwell Street, a few yards from the offices of the Shuttle/Times & News. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, a few yards from where the Labour Government has just signed the death warrant of thousands of his beloved Post Offices.

Wyre Forest has lost 10 branches since 1999 - a third of them - and now looks set to lose more.

The Liberal Democrats and the Tories had called for the suspension of the closures. Sadly, Labour's MPs won the vote to wipe thousands of branches from the map.

Communities that have already lost schools, shops and churches will now lose this last focal point, hitting the elderly and those who can't afford an internet link.

While I echo the dismay of Wyre Forest's Conservative spokesman, Mark Garnier, at these closures, his protests have a hollow ring. Has he forgotten the 3,500 Post Offices closed when David Cameron was a top government adviser?

As they say, Labour is always stealing Conservative policies and it looks like they've done it again.

Labour also stole the Tory policy of making Post Offices unviable in the first place. It was the Tories who encouraged people to get their pensions and benefits paid into bank accounts, cutting Post Office income by millions. Labour followed that lead, reducing earnings from TV licences, passports and car tax and denying them the right to offer alternative postal services, tying their hands behind their backs and kicking them squarely in the bank balance.

In Wyre Forest, we're going to have to wait until August for the so-called consultation on further branch closures, but we can be pretty sure that we will lose a few.

The Liberal Democrats believe that most of these closures could be avoided by bringing in a plan they first unveiled last year. This would entail: l De-merging Post Office Ltd from Royal Mail, giving branches the right to offer mail services from several different companies.

l Selling about 40 per cent of Royal Mail to the private sector and giving most of the rest to the employees - a bit like John Lewis's employee shareholding.

l Raising about £2 billion from that sale to invest in Post Office branches.

l Reviving the idea of a simple Post Office bank aimed at those needing only basic banking services.

l Persuading local councils to offer services through the Post Offices.

If Labour is so willing to steal policies, why not steal this one and save our Post Offices and their consciences?

NEVILLE FARMER Wyre Forest Liberal Democrat Spokesman