Labour MPs accused of "hypocrisy" over post office closures

Mar 21 2008

By Rob Merrick, Liverpool Daily Post

LABOUR MPs in the region were accused of hypocrisy yesterday after fighting to save local post offices - only to back the controversial closure programme at Westminster. The Conservatives fiercely criticised six Merseyside and North Cheshire MPs who failed to vote to halt the closures pending a review, in a crunch vote that slashed Labour’s majority to just 20. They said the MPs – Joe Benton (Bootle), Ben Chapman (Wirral South), Claire Curtis-Thomas (Crosby), Louise Ellman (Liverpool Riverside), Andrew Miller (Ellesmere Port and Neston) and Christine Russell (Chester) – had campaigned against axing post offices in their constituencies. Four of the six MPs voted with the government to continue the closure programme, while the remaining two – Mr Benton and Ms Curtis-Thomas – abstained late on Wednesday night. For the full story, visit the Liverpool Daily Post