In your article on post office closures, you failed to mention that these closures are being driven by EU directives.

Directive 97/67 of 1997 meant that the Royal Mail lost its monopoly of postal services. Private companies cherry-picked the profitable parts The Government was (and still is) subsidising Royal Mail, but it can only do this with the permission of the EU. Most such state aid is illegal under EU law.

The Commission allows the Government to subsidise the post office network to a certain extent, but the deal is that it must close 2,500 branches It will get worse: directive 2002/39 of 2002 further "liberalised" (privatised) the postal services market. By 2009, the Royal Mail monopoly will have disappeared completely. Expect further closures.

Campaigners against post office closures should understand that giving signatures to the Prime Minister is a waste of time. There is absolutely nothing that the "Government" in Westminster can do. Real power is in Brussels. That is where the protesters should direct their efforts.

PETER GARDNER (Dr) Chairman UK Independence Party (Oxford) St Mary's Road Oxford