Royal Mail sell off to go ahead after recession

The part-privatisation of the Royal Mail will go ahead once the economy picks up despite opposition from Labour MPs, Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has said, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The part-privatisation of the Royal Mail will go ahead once the economy picks up despite opposition from Labour MPs, Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has said, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The article continues:

Appearing before the Commons Business Committee, Lord Mandelson insisted that plans to sell off part of the business, which were put on hold earlier this month, had been temporarily shelved only because of difficult market conditions.

He denied wide-spread reports that the part-privatisation had been put aside because of a threatened mass rebellion by Labour MPs.

Admitting that he was “disappointed” at the delay, the Business Secretary insisted that the Government was determined to press on with the plans, adding: “We remain entirely committed to these proposals and would like to see them implemented when market conditions allow.

“They would have to be the right partners, with the right offer, to bring about the transformation of Royal Mail, offering the right degree of value for money to the taxpayer. At the moment those conditions don’t exist.

“There is a crying need for modernisation of this business. Both management and union say they are up for this – I just wish they would get on and do it.”

Lord Mandelson also attacked the Communication Workers Union, claiming it was “boycotting” agreed procedures for implementing changes.

He added: “I realise that is a very serious charge to make, but looking at the facts, any other conclusion is impossible to arrive at.”

The minister said that the major “casualty” was the Royal Mail pension fund, which is billions of pounds in deficit, and should not be “bailed out” by the taxpayer.

He said that the public could not be expected to provide more funds to bail out the scheme if Royal Mail remained unmodernised.