New proposed government plans will take away the post office savings account and replace it with a new “Easy Access” account, which would require a minimum of £100 investment. This means that many vulnerable people will find themselves without any banking or saving services from August 1st this year.
Darren Johnson, Green Party Mayoral Candidate said,”£100 is a lot of money to many pensioners, single mothers and those on income support or low earnings. This is essentially an attack on poor people who like to save a little bit from their weekly money for emergencies, birthdays and so forth.”
“It is typical of this Government to call something ‘Easy Access’ when in fact it is much harder to access than the old system. Many people hold Post Office Savings Accounts because they can save and have access to small amounts of money. It is mainly the poor and elderly that use these accounts and to axe them is not fair.”
Darren continued,” This phase-out will cut off an entire segment of the public from a stable place to put their money, in just the same way that this government is closing local post offices. People want these kinds of services. This massive disenfranchisement may not be such a new thing for Labour, but for the Green Party, it is just not acceptable. It is another case of government discriminating against the poor.”
Darren Johnson concluded,” Many elderly people regarded their local post offices as a lifeline. Cutting them out of the services they’ve come to depend on is disgraceful. A real government, a Green government provides fair services for all.”
Notes to editors:
Figures released show that there are consultation plans to close 214 post offices in London and over 3000 in the rest of the country by 2005
· Darren Johnson is 37 and was selected as the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of London in May 2003. He was elected to the London Assembly in May 2000 where he is Leader of the Green Party Group. He was also elected to Lewisham Council in May 2002.
· The Mayoral election will be held on June 10th at the same time as the elections for the London Assembly and the European Parliament. At the last Assembly elections the Greens scored one of their best ever results in the Party’s history, securing 11.1% of the vote across London and winning three seats on the 25-member Assembly.
· Darren Johnson’s vision for a sustainable Green London can be found on his website www.johnsonformayor.org.uk
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Further information, interviews:
Penny Kemp 07711 760692