• THURSDAY August 31 will mark the last day of the consultancy period for the proposed closure of the railway ticket offices.

The RMT union and other non-union interested parties, organisations representing the disabled and people with special needs, the elderly and older people, are going to march from the Department for Transport at 5.30pm to Downing Street, to protest against this proposal.

All are welcome on the march and if you care about this outrageous, divisive, proposal, which will affect millions, please make the effort to turn up.

The government has tried to push this through by making the original consultancy period only three weeks during July, when they knew most people were on holiday, but it’s badly backfired on them.

Mark Harper, the transport secretary, and Huw Merryman, the railways minister, should be ashamed of themselves. They should be forced to resign.

The so called Rail Delivery Group, which is supposed to be independent of government, has climbed into bed with them and become a supporter of this disgraceful proposal and aided and abetted them at every turn, along with the train operating companies.

The only people who will benefit from this proposal are the executives and the greedy shareholders in the companies who have railway franchises.

This will be our only chance to stand up and be counted, we must stop this proposal before we lose a service which we all need. This is the thin edge of the wedge, if they get away with this more outrageous proposals will follow.

JOHN SCOTT-MORGAN, NW3