At least the government has seen sense and offered the Post Office network an essential lifeline by renewing the Post Office Card Account contract. Now it it time to move one. As New Economics Foundation director Stewart Wallis said in the Guardian this morning:

The Post Office must now be grown into a banking system built on trust. A safe national bank will underpin local economies, promote financial inclusion and play a vital role in reconnecting the banking system with the productive economy. Mandelson must call an immediate halt to closures, as the ubiquity of this network is its strength. The post office card account must be retained to provide a viable economic base, then the government must start to give more of its business to the Post Office, providing hubs for information and resources, as well as trusted financial services.

Strongly supported local communities are critical if people and small businesses are to weather difficult times ahead. Post offices have a key role to play in ensuring our resilience to this, and other potential shocks.

Stewart Wallis

Executive director, New Economics Foundation

I agree.

And as a start the link between and Irish bank and the Post Office should be scrapped and it should be allowed to offer genuine, independent banking for the communities of the UK.