BFPO Petition

FlyingMawanga

Just discovered that the UK Government want to scrap the BFPO postal addresses, which are for serving members of the armed forces based overseas.

I personally think this is totally out of order, subsidised overseas mail to our military is a long standing tradition, and a huge morale booster for our people who are based outside of the UK.

If anyone wants to add their name to this petition, I'd be grateful.

Cheers.

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveBFPO/

bike husband

Iam in. Good luck

bomberesque

signed.

also the one about establishing a minimum length fr cumberland sausages, but only because the only 2 blokes that signed so far looked so lonely

cat_with_no_tail

I know this may be seen as nitpicking, but the plan is not to scrap ALL BFPO addresses as your initial post implies. The plan is only to scrap the ones in mainland Europe. I'm not saying that I agree with this decision, but personally, I would like to see how much they are going to save by doing this, and where the saved money will go.

Is the money going to go to the MoD, Postal Service or somewhere else? If it's going to the MoD, is it going to be used for something troops actually need?

Are there going to be any assurances that this is not the beginning of a blanket shutdown of ALL BFPO addresses?

I should also add that I have no idea how good the subsidisation is for mainland europe BFPO addresses (most of them are in Germany). How much of a discount do you actually receive over normal postage rates?

The only time I have ever used BFPO was to send to Afghanistan, and it's free (and will continue to be free).

FlyingMawanga

Sorry if I misled you Cat With No Tail, you are correct. It is only BFPO addresses in countries with supposed adequate postal networks which will be scrapped.

The only people I see saving money here is the Royal Mail, and as they are slowly turning from a public service to private industry, they are only chasing profit. If they get away with scrapping these BFPOs then the rest will follow, believe me, I know Royal Mail well.

The MOD have to run the transport planes and helis anyway, mail takes a low priority behind supplies and troops, but it still has to be conveyed to the people at the sharp end. There obviously are also security issues to be considered.

As far as I'm concerned, any subsidisation of squaddies mothers sending chocolate and deodorant to their wee boys and girls, I'm all for it.

cat_with_no_tail

No worries, didnt for one second think it was an intentional omission.

To be honest, I really have no clue which govt dept was in charge of BFPO addresses. I had always assumed it was a mutual agreement between the MoD and Royal mail, with the cost of the subsidies absorbed partly by RM and Partly by the MoD. Didn't realize that it was all run by RM.

My initial thinking behind it was that if the MoD are going to save £x.xxmillion but re-invest that money back into parts of the armed forces that need it, then maybe it's not a bad idea. Provided they still offer the service for free to personnel in conflict zones

Obviously, if it's just a stunt by Royal Mail to boost their profits, it puts the whole idea in a different light.

Out of interest, do you happen to know how much RM will allegedly be saving on an annual basis?

FlyingMawanga

Sorry, don't have those numbers, but I'll see if I can rustle them up. What I am sure of is the savings won't cover our £12 billion pension deficit...

:?

cat_with_no_tail

Not to worry. I signed it anyways. I figure the armed forces deserve every benefit imaginable. Failing that, a salary commensurate with their role might be nice.

FlyingMawanga

Thanks. That's what it boils down to in my opinion too. Every little helps.

shorty15

As a serving soldier who has been based in Germany for over 10 years, the benefit of using the BFPO system is that a letter or package is classed as being in the UK, therefore its a lot cheaper to send than it would be if the package went to a German civvy address.
But nothing surprises me anymore about this goverment!!!

Satans Budgie

Signed.