Fighting rural post office closures a key SNP aim

Nicola Sturgeon also hints axing public sector pay gap will be priority

Fighting for the future of rural post offices will be at the heart of the SNP general election manifesto, The Courier has learned.

Nationalist MPs will commit to fighting for a presumption against closures in communities.

They say the shut down of such services would impact most on the elderly.

Post offices still serve as a crucial place of being able to send and receive parcels, letters and as a meeting place in rural communities.

The service at Dunkeld, which has been part of the area since the 19th Century, closed its doors at the end of April, less than 24 hours after official confirmation from Post Office bosses.

Calum Kerr, the SNP’s rural affairs spokesman, warned the unnecessary closure of vital post offices threatens the economic well-being of rural communities across Scotland.

The party wants the next UK Government to follow the Scottish Government’s lead on a similar presumption against the closure of rural schools and ensure services available are expanded, including local banking.

Mr Kerr said: “At a time when we should be expanding our local services, the UK Government is intent on shutting rural Scotland down.

“A vote for the SNP at this election is not just a vote to protect families from callous cuts, or protecting pensioners or rejecting the austerity assault agenda of the Tory Party – it is a vote to stand up for every part of Scotland.”

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon yesterday dropped a heavy hint that axing the public sector pay cap will be a major part of the document when it launches in Edinburgh today.

The First Minister said: “We know that real wages are falling, we know that inequality is rising, so the SNP manifesto will have this at its heart, not just in the public sector but in the private sector as well. We will set out policies to see wages increase through moving the minimum wage to the level of the living wage.

“We will set out policies that will reverse the policy of a freeze on support for income on low-paid working families. We will also address centrally the issue of pay in the public sector.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Secretary David Mundell has rejected a claim that UK Ministers have “short-changed” the country on city deals.

The SNP manifesto will demand money is produced for the likes of the Tay Cities Deal but Mr Mundell accused the Nationalists of “playing politics” with the potential £1.8 billion investment in Tayside and north-east Fife.

He said: “The UK has led from the front on these deals – and the SNP are now playing catch up. We are very clear: the Conservatives will do a deal for every city in Scotland – and that includes delivering on a Tay Cities Deal.

“Our model of the UK Government putting investment in with the Scottish Government and local authorities is delivering the transformative, longterm investment that our great cities of Scotland deserve.”