Local News

Mark Garnier, Wyre Forest’s Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, added his voice to the calls to cut taxes for savers and pensioners in Wyre Forest. Conservatives have called for special help for these “innocent victims” of Labour’s recession, who are suffering as the income from their savings falls. Over the long term, cutting taxes on savings would help build a savings culture and end Britain’s addiction to debt under Gordon Brown.

The Government yesterday announced a proposal to hike business rates (the National Non Domestic Rate, or NNDR) by an inflation busting 5%. At the same time, it announced that it would not help small businesses any further and held the small business discount at its current level.

Just a few weeks after Wyre Forest learnt that it is to lose four of its post offices, it now seems more are under threat. In a report published yesterday by the House of Commons Business and Enterprise Select Committee, details of the tender process for the Post Office Card Account (POCA) highlights potential losses for the Post Offices Ltd (POL).

As the economy slips into a recession, compounded by a decade of dismal fiscal management by Gordon Brown, the Government has announced that it will inflict further hardship on local businesses by closing four post offices in Wyre Forest.

Despite valiant efforts by local campaigners, and Mark Garnier's campaign to reduce overall local closures from 4 to just two post offices, it seems that local opinion is to be ignored and the proposed 4 local closures will go ahead. This will leave just 19 in the district and follows a succession of closures over recent years.