Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Gainsborough, has called for a radical overhaul of the Post Office to give power to local postmasters.
Speaking after a ministerial statement, Sir Edward said he had been "very worried" about the governance of the Post Office since serving as the post office minister many years ago.
"We need absolutely radical reform," the MP said. "Here we have a badly run nationalised industry, with people paying themselves huge salaries and bonuses, but all the work is done by the 11,000 sub-postmasters."
"They have been treated absolutely appallingly, and not just in the Horizon scandal but in their working conditions, pay and everything else."
"I have been arguing recently, in consultation with sub-postmasters and their leaders, that we should consider mutualisation."
"We should pass control of this body to the people on the frontline who do all the work. I hope the Minister will not dismiss that idea."
The Times included Sir Edward's remarks in its report of the debate.
Post Office Ltd is a cumbersome corporate bureaucracy that pays its executives six-figure salaries while subpostmasters do most of the work.
— Sir Edward Leigh MP (@EdwardLeighMP) May 10, 2023
We should remove this extractive level and pass control of the network to those who own, operate, and look after our local post offices. pic.twitter.com/k1PfiJa9Ps
