text_body: --- DIVISION TITLE ---
  
  Post Office - Condemns previous Conservative government
  
  --- MOTION EFFECT ---
  
  
  The Majority of MPs voted in favour of the motion:[1]
  
  **This House 
  *''condemns'' the running down of the Post Office under 18 years of Conservative government, which saw 3,500 post offices close, hundreds of thousands of days lost through industrial action, a lack of investment which allowed the Post Office to slip behind its competitors, a failure to give the Post Office the commercial freedom it needed to invest and compete; 
  * ''congratulates'' the current Government for giving the Post Office commercial freedom to make its own decisions, enshrining the universal service obligation in legislation, establishing a new regulatory framework, bringing in new managers, modernising and supporting the post office network and encouraging partnership between employers and unions; and
  * ''furthermore'' notes that Consignia invested Â£296 million in the last financial year, is addressing its cost base, strengthening its management and striving to achieve a world class service in Britain.
  
  This replaced a motion put forward by the Conservative Party at the start of the debate before it was voted out.[2]
  
  * [1] [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2002-01-29.176.1#g187.0 Patricia Hewitt MP], House of Commons, 29 January 2002
  * [2] [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2002-01-29&number=147 Post office - Condemnation of Government - rejected] 
  
  
  --- COMMENTS AND NOTES ---
  
  (put thoughts and notes for other researchers here)
  