Royal Mail Privatisation "Keep the Post Public". EDM 428

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LTB 168/09 - Royal Mail Privatisation - “Keep the Post Public”. EDM 428 Update


No.168/09
Ref GS 11.0
Date: 25/02/09

(All Branches)

TO: THE BRANCH SECRETARY

Dear Colleague

Royal Mail Privatisation - "Keep the Post Public". EDM 428 Update

Further to LTB 145/09, on behalf of the National Union, we wish to convey our appreciation to all Branches, activists - their friends and families - CWU staff who took part in the National Rally and Lobby of Parliament.

Thanks also to Jane Loftus, Vice President and Chair of the Postal Executive, who Chaired the Rally.

It should also be noted that our press and media coverage was excellent and particular thanks go to Kevin Slocombe, Head of Communications and the whole of his Department.

Stop Press

During the course of the preparation of this LTB, Lord Mandelson formally announced the First Reading of the Bill to Privatise Royal Mail. The Bill will be released to the public at 9.30 a.m. Thursday February 26th. We understand copies of the Bill will be available from the following weblink http://www.errr.gob.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - link does not work but RMC will have the bill up as soon as its available.

Hard Copies will be distributed in due course.

Note: By convention the House of Lords does not normally vote to overturn a Government Manifesto Commitment. As this Bill will be a clear breach of the Government's Manifesto commitment endorsed by the British people, voting as a whole, the Union will be seeking legal advice on this matter.

EDM 428

The list currently stands at 153 signatures.

On the basis of pledges of support, it is anticipated that EDM 428 will be the third biggest supported EDM on a national question in this current Parliamentary session. (It is now moved from 7th to 5th)

See http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetai ... ESSION=899" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For ease of reference the current list is attached to this LTB.

Clearly the impact of our Rally and Lobby has been extremely successful in winning support of a further numbers of MPs.

It should be noted that Sharon Hodgson who is a CWU supported MP and a Parliamentary Private Secretary has now signed EDM 428.

Together with this, Dave Anderson MP - Unison supported MP - has also signed the Early Day Motion.

Daniel Kawczynski - Tory MP for Shrewsbury & Atcham - has now signed the EDM - this means two Tory MPs have now signed. It will be recalled that as people were leaving the Rally, the GS announced that Daniel Kawczynski had approached the platform to inform us that he was signing. We are currently awaiting a further Tory who is considering signing.

Northern Ireland
It will be noted that there are 18 MPs in Northern Ireland. Of these, 5 are Sinn Fein MPs who have an abstentionism policy towards Westminster Parliament and do not attend and are not therefore in a position to sign an EDM. There are 3 Social Democratic Labour Party Members, all of whom have signed. Of the 9 members of the Democratic Unionist Party, one has signed. The one member of the Ulster Unionist Party has signed.

It will be recalled that all the Parties in Northern Ireland have pledged to support the Union's campaign against privatisation.

The Regional Secretary is organising a Lobby of Stormont to speak to Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly - MLAs. This is a welcome initiative. However, at this stage it is absolutely crucial that given the stated support of the Parties in Northern Ireland, that we secure signatures for the EDM. All Branches in Northern Ireland must ensure the promise of signing EDM 428 is turned into a reality. The Regional Secretary is contacting Branches to ensure that they make contact with their local MPs.

Given the seriousness of the situation the Union faces, and the need to turn promises into signatures, the Regional Secretary has been advised to make direct contact with the MPs in order to secure support for EDM 428.

Branches will be know from LTB 145/09 that there is to be a public meeting in Bristol this coming Friday - February 27th at 7.00 pm - 8.00 pm in the Executive Room, Novotel Bristol Centre, Victoria Street Bristol, BS1 6HY.

The following day, Saturday, February 28th the Union will be lobbying delegates to the Labour Party National Policy Forum before the meeting commences.

There is also a March and Demonstration taking place in Pat McFadden's Constituency on Saturday March 14th, further details will be released in due course.

Given the seriousness of the situation, the Union will now be organising a series of National Lobbies in the Constituencies of those backbench MPs who have not yet signed the EDM - similar to that being organised in Pat McFadden's constituency. Naturally, given the logistics involved and taking into account all the factors, this will involve some planning. Together with this, consultations will be taking place with the Regional Secretaries and those Branches that fall within the footprint of particular constituencies.

However, Branches are asked to note if they fall within a particular boundary of the MPs that have yet to sign, in particular those MPs who are sponsored by Trade Unions, other than the CWU.

As per LTB 145/09 we will be making contact with all Union sponsored MPs.

Parliamentary Private Secretaries

As of today, Wednesday 25th February, a further two Parliamentary Private Secretaries have signed EDM 428 - bringing the total number to 9. A further LTB will be issued by the end of the week specifically dealing with the issue of PPSs.

Any enquiries on this LTB should be addressed to the General Secretary's Department quoting the reference GS 11.0.

Yours sincerely

W Hayes Dave Ward
General Secretary Deputy General Secretary (Postal)