Campaigning to save our local post offices
Christopher Fraser MP has been fighting the Government’s proposals to make substantial cuts to the post office network - speaking in Parliamentary debates, meeting Ministers and tabling questions. He has worked behind the counter in sub post offices, has listened to sub-postmasters and their customers, and pledged to fight for every sub-post office under threat in South West Norfolk.
Following the news that 15 local post offices in the constituency have been earmarked for closure, Christopher Fraser organised and chaired a public meeting with representatives from Post Office Limited in attendance. Some 200 people, including local sub-postmasters and their customers, went along in order to raise key issues and register their objections with the Post Office.
Christopher said: “Constituents, particularly the elderly and those without cars, have understandably reacted with dismay to the proposed closure programme. I called the public meeting so that we could share our concerns with Post Office management and get a better understanding of the consultation process. Local people were urged to get behind the campaign being run by each of the sub-postmasters who want to remain open. We must ensure that the impact of each closure is fully understood by Post Office Limited. If we make a compelling case and if the consultation is genuine, management may be persuaded to change its mind.”
He told the meeting “There is a better way, which would prevent wholesale closure – give sub post offices the freedom to offer a wider range of commercial products and set up local and central government counters to serve the community.”
Christopher brings post offices campaign to Number 10
Christopher has presented a petition to the Prime Minister at Number 10, Downing Street, signed by hundreds of constituents, which calls on the Government to reverse its funding decision in order to keep post office open. The constituency is set to lose 14 subpost office branches following the results of the local consultation led by the Post Office.
“I am dismayed by the outcome of Norfolk’s post offices consultation because it will mean the closure of all branches under threat in South West Norfolk, bar only one. This decision has been made despite the overwhelming view amongst local people that they need to remain open. This will have a devastating impact on our rural communities, which are already suffering from the loss of vital services and amenities such as banks, local shops and pubs. People are asking whether the public consultation was anything more than a public relations exercise.
"The Government has presided over the decline of the Post Office as services have been withdrawn. Now, the contract for the replacement to the Post Office Account Card (POCA), which is out for tender, may be awarded elsewhere. This could be the final straw, which sees the end of rural post offices as we know them. The Government has failed the Post Office network, and failed rural communities. I believe this is a policy which will come back to haunt them."
Campaigning to change the law on raves
Nearly every weekend, winter and summer, another rave takes place with resultant damage and destruction. Christopher receives countless letters from distressed constituents who face unbearably loud music, antisocial behaviour, hundreds of revellers just yards from their front doors and the prospect of clearing up drug paraphernalia and human waste afterwards.
Christopher says: “These events trample on the rural economy, which is already struggling as a result of extreme weather conditions and animal disease. Rave organisers reap the benefits of minimised costs and no tax, yet landowners and farmers constantly have to pay huge amounts of money in clean-up costs after raves on their land”.
Last summer Christopher secured a Parliamentary debate on this issue. Although the Minister was supportive, there has been little progress since, so in February Christopher presented to Parliament a Ten Minute Rule Bill that seeks to amend the current regulations. Speaking about the Bill, Christopher says:
“If successful, my Bill would expand the definition of a rave, and would create two new offences of organising a rave and transporting sound equipment for use at a rave. By clamping down on the organisers it will be much easier for the Police to use intelligence gathered to prevent raves and penalise appropriately those who see raves as a get-rich-quick formula, irrespective of the nuisance they cause. I have urged the Government to support my Bill. It is high time the rights of the law-abiding majority were protected.”
Campaigning for a referendum
Christopher feels very strongly that the Government should hold a referendum on the Lisbon Reform Treaty and has been campaigning for once since the true nature of the Treaty became clear. Gordon Brown and the Labour Party made a manifesto promise to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution. It is clear that there is understanding across Europe that the Lisbon Treaty is almost exactly the same as the Constitution. So to deny people the chance to express their view is a broken promise.
Conservatives in Parliament forced a vote in the House of Commons on a referendum, but were defeated. There was another vote in the Commons on a new Clause which sought to protect the supremacy of the UK Parliament in our courts. Christopher voted in favour of that Amendment but it too was defeated by the Government’s majority.
The Lisbon Treaty will now go to the House of Lords. It is convention that Peers do not stand in the way of manifesto commitments and Christopher hopes that they will hold all political parties to the commitments they made.
Gordon Brown has signed up to major shifts of power from Britain to the EU and major changes in the way the EU works. In the modern world, where people want power and control over their lives, to deny them a referendum is a denial of democracy. It is right that Parliament decides how we are governed on issues such as healthcare, education and policing, but Parliament should not give up the powers it has been granted by the British people without their consent.
Campaigning for our hospitals
Working with Local Councillors and the League of Friends, Christopher has been campaigning on behalf of community hospitals across Norfolk. He was greatly encouraged by the announcement that intermediate care beds will be retained at Swaffham Community Hospital, but recognises that there is a great deal of work to do to secure the long-term future of in-patient care in the town so that the needs of the community are met. He is also fighting to keep services open at the Queen Elizabeth, the Norfolk and Norwich and other hospitals serving Norfolk.
Campaigning for our roads infrastructure
Since his election, Christopher has been lobbying the Government to upgrade the A11 east of Thetford at the earliest opportunity to unlock the economic potential of Norfolk. Christopher says: “Norfolk remains the only county in England without a dual carriageway to the national trunk road system.” He welcomed the Government’s recent backing for the scheme, when the Highways Agency was instructed to press ahead with the statutory preparation work. He is campaigning for investment in our A-roads north and south, east and west, to cut down on rat-runs and reduce the speed and weight of traffic through villages.
Campaigning for flood relief for Norfolk
People from across the area whose homes, business and daily routes were affected when local roads were flooded for up to 100 days last winter are desperate for a solution. Christopher has secured the support of the Environment Agency to work for a sustainable, long-term solution, and forced the Government to acknowledge that the people of this area have as much right as anyone to expect a solution to their plight.
|
