I admire the strident, heartfelt views expressed by many contributors to Bury Times Letters — long may they continue — but I was staggered by the views of Cllr Sandra Walmsley (January 27) about the Post Office.

Here is an elected councillor, part of a responsible body of people trying to deal with the problems of society in 2011, and she is still expounding the virtues of public ownership of businesses.

I immediately thought of “Wolfie Smith” (Robert Lindsay in Citizen Smith) back in the 70s or 80s — you know, “Power to the People”!!

The reality of competition between private businesses Sandra is that we can shop around and look for cheaper prices that are held in check, or driven down, by consumer and market pressures and the same is true for the Post Office.

The extra dimension now is that the days of paper-consuming mail are numbered and we should all try to embrace the benefits of new technology — the internet and e-mail — if not for ourselves then for our children and, especially, our grandchildren who need more help.

Using modern means of communication is commonplace to them and they will drive the nature of any Post Office-type business in the future, whether we like it or not!

Personally, I find it hard to summon any interest in when and if “the post” comes since 90 per cent of it is junk mail that goes straight into the recycling bin.

As a final thought, and correct me if I am wrong Sandra, but I detect in you a certain yearning for the political benefits of the “good old days”, when thousands more of us were dependent on the State for employment and expressed gratitude at the ballot box to the Government that put us there!

It’s only now that we realise that borrowing billions, and calling it “public investment” was a catastrophic mismanagement of our economy and we will all pay a heavy price for the outdated political ideaology that drove it!

Derek Brooks Tottington