As part of a political move to buy off suporters of an internal Labour Party rebellion against the proposed privatisation of the Royal Mail, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson wants to see the network of 12,000 Posst Office branches become a sort of national ‘Peoples’ Bank’.

This role is seen as plugging a gap in servives left by the banking collapses and would offer people an alternative to the so-called High Street Banks.

The proposal is seen as helping to secure the long term future of Post Offices. These already offer some limited banking services in association with the Bank of Ireland – like Credit Cards, mortgages and personal loans. The extended system would see Post Offices offer what are described as: ‘the full range of services associated with banks’.

Given the activities that are now indeed associated with banks, we can only hope that this was a carelessly chosen phrase.