Dr Peter Gardner (Oxford Mail, May 14) is partially correct in saying that the closure of our post offices is by virtue of EU directive 97/67 of 1997.
He gives the impression, however, that the closure timetable is dictated by the EU.
In fact, it is our Government which has sought to implement the directive earlier than any of our EU partners. Indeed, the Dutch and Germans have delayed implementation until 2013.
The decision to bring forward the closures in Britain was, I understand, put before Parliament's EU scrutiny committee, but was not debated by the full House of Commons.
As with so many EU directives, our Government has 'gold plated' the measures without proper debate.
The fact that the issue was put out to a pointless consultation, the results of which were announced just after the local elections, is political cynicism of the worst order.
The problem is that the British interest is not always properly protected at the Council of Ministers in Brussels, where UK representatives do not always seem to fully comprehend the long-term implications of what they are agreeing to.
It is difficult to believe that a UK minister in 1997 readily agreed to a measure that was bound to force closure of so many post offices in so many communities in the name of 'competition'.
PAUL WESSON Brome Way Carterton
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