Playing party politics with your local post office

LONDON faces massive numbers of branch post offices closing - but, strangely enough, which ones will be axed will not be made public until after the mayoral and assembly elections in the capital.

I know I have a suspicious nature, but this cannot be a coincidence. Ministers know the uproaor in communities across the country as the closure programme - orchestrated by the Government - is rolled out and they are desperate to ensure voters in London are kept in the dark in the hope of Livingstone clinging onto the mayorality and Labour wins control of the assembly.

Royal Mail said this morning that 169 offices are earmarked for closure in the capital out of a current total of 850 . But it insists 90% of Londoners will see no change to their nearest branch under the proposals which it said will leave seven million residents unaffected or living within a mile of an alternative branch.

Royal Mail is now halfway through a series of 42 public consultations over the 2,500 national closures which will be completed by the end of the year. The first actual closures started last month in Kent.

Bob Neill, Shadow Minister for London, blew the whistle of the covert plans. "Labour is putting vast swathes of the London Post Office network under threat and putting people's livelihoods on the line - yet they will not reveal the final extent of Post Office cuts until after London's May elections. Ministers are pursuing their own selfish political considerations at the expense of the public."

I'm hardly being partisan when I side with Bob. Labour's been rumbled trying on a classic piece of party politicking. It ought to lead to a massive row - but whether Tory golden boy Boris Johnson is capable of taking advantage of such hokey-pokey must secretly worry strategists at Conservative Central Office.

Livingstone, of course, is busily trying to distance himself from the policy as he faces a voter backlash. ""London's Post Offices provide vital support for those who are most in need, particularly the elderly, disabled and those with young children. For many Londoners who do not have access to a bank account, the Post Office is an amenity they cannot do without."

He added: "I believe we need more, not fewer, Post Offices in London. I will be writing to the Post Office informing them of my intention to launch a legal challenge to their decision."

Admit it Ken, you've no influence over you political masters across the river.