US mail company courts Blair
THE world’s biggest parcel carrier, the American-owned UPS, has donated money to the Labour party. Its parliamentary lobbyist has also spent the past three weeks travelling with Tony Blair on his battlebus, writes Maurice Chittenden.
The interest shown by UPS has alarmed Consignia – the former Post Office – and the Communication Workers Union, which represents Britain’s postal workers.
They believe the postal giant wants to persuade a future Labour government to allow it to compete with Royal Mail for Britain’s £5 billion-a-year letter market.
Executives from the company had an informal lunch with the postal commissioners two weeks ago to discuss the possibility of applying for a licence to deliver mail.
Under the Postal Services Act, which took effect in March, carriers may apply for a licence to handle letters with a postage rate of less than £1. So far only Consignia has such a licence.
According to a register being compiled by the newly formed Electoral Commission, UPS gave £17,625 to Labour on March 1 at a time when Blair was still planning to call an election on May 3.
Nigel Goodson, UPS’s director of public affairs, said the £17,625 was not a gift but referred to sponsorship of a reception at last year’s Labour conference and the cost of a table at a Labour gala dinner.
