Last updated 11:37, Thursday, 08 May 2008

HERE’S a candidate for the most meaningless word in the English language – consultation.

It may well be that under-pressure Prime Minister Gordon Brown, suddenly the listening and learning leader, decides to suspend Post Office closures in the quest for some much-needed popularity.

But if some rural post offices do temporarily survive the axe, you can be sure it won’t be on account of consultation.

Ninety per cent of the time consultation is just a sop to the public. Decisions have been taken and officials have no intention of changing course.

They may tinker at bit at the edges just to convince people that consultation means something, but in reality you might as well save your breath.

While the government can afford to spend billions of pounds on wars, the heart of rural communities is gradually being ripped out for want of a fraction of that financial support.

It’s a London-driven Government and I don’t think half the people in Westminster have a clue about life in the British countryside.

How ludicrous does it have to get? Post Office chiefs want to close the branch in the village of New Buckenham in Norfolk and they reassure residents that the nearest alternative is a five-minute bus ride away.

Just one problem. You need an overnight stay. There are only two buses to the next village and no return service until first thing in the morning.

The Post Office looked at the bus stop, but didn’t see the timetables. Bosses say no decision will be taken until after the public consultation process has been completed. Not much evidence that consultation has worked so far.

Consultation usually means persuasion. Trying to convince the public that less service means more.

No wonder we are cynics. No wonder we don’t believe the spin. Just ask the elderly residents of New Buckenham what they make of the consultation lark.