Labour MPs’ Royal Mail rebellion ‘threatens Saturday deliveries’
Saturday post deliveries could be lost if Labour MPs block government plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail, ministers have warned.
Saturday post deliveries could be lost if Labour MPs block government plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail, ministers have warned.
Government insiders have concluded that Royal Mail’s business is now so precarious that without a major overhaul it will be unable to continue with its universal daily delivery service.
Ministers are warning that Royal Mail risks following the example of the US postal service, which has recently sought permission from the US Congress to drop its Saturday service amid huge financial losses.
Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, will shortly introduce a bill to parliament that would allow the sale of part of the Royal Mail to a private company.
The government says the part-privatisation is needed to modernise Royal Mail’s operations, helping it cope with falling demand for postal services and soaring pension costs.
However, the plan has met with fierce opposition from trade unions and Labour MPs.
Some 122 of Labour’s 350 MPs have signed a Commons motion opposing the private sector plan, declaring that “to sell a minority stake in Royal Mail which would risk fracturing one of Britain’s greatest public service”.
Compass, a left-wing Labour pressure-group, is also campaigning against what it calls the Government’s plan to “break up the postal service”. The group will hold a ‘Keep the Post Public’ rally in London on Tuesday.
The Conservatives have said they will support the government plans in Parliament but the scale of the Labour rebellion is such that ministers believe their bill could still be lost.
Under its so-called Universal Service Obligation, Royal Mail is legally committed to collecting and delivering letters and parcels six days a week.
The government says it is committed to retaining the obligation, including the Saturday delivery.
But Pat McFadden, the postal services minister, said that the privatisation plan is “necessary” to doing so.
