Proposals to give millions of people a say in how the Post Office is run provoked a furious row as the SNP accused the Tory-LibDem Coalition of attempting to mask branch closures.
UK ministers hit back at their critics, insisting the changes would mean the days of waves of closures were over.
Scottish MPs have called on the two parties to guarantee no more branches will shut under its privatisation plans. Scotland has already lost around 28% of its Post Office branches over the last decade.
Campaigners insist the counters provide a lifeline for many in remote communities and the network is already too stretched to withstand any more losses.
The Coalition plans to privatise one side of the business, the Royal Mail, which provides around a third of branches’ income.
While ministers say there will be no planned closures alongside the privatisation, critics claim that does not ensure the current network of 11,500 branches will be maintained.
They warn many of the 1400 post offices across Scotland could be allowed to wither and die.
Yesterday the UK Government unveiled proposals to mutualise Post Office Ltd, citing how The Co-Operative is run as inspiration.
The plans involve giving customers a say in how the business is run, including appointing executives.
Ministers said such a move would keep the Post Office network in state hands, even if the Royal Mail is not.
But Mike Weir, the SNP’s postal affairs spokesman, said: “The real issue facing the Post Office is not its structure but whether it survives the UK Government’s disastrous plans to privatise the Royal Mail.
“There are real dangers this will lead to the closure of many more local post offices.”
But postal affairs minister Ed Davey pledged that the proposal would mean the “days of closure programmes of local post offices are over”.
Under the proposals the Post Office would not be mutualised until after 2015.
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