Concerns over Royal Mail future

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LEAVE our postal service alone”- this was the defiant response from workers in Bridgwater who fear part-privatisation of the Royal Mail could affect services in the town.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson introduced proposals to the House of Lords last Wednesday, which could see a 30% sell-off of Royal Mail to a private company, to help pay for the modernisation of the service.

But postal union bosses in Bridgwater blasted the government's plans.

Phil Greenslade, Communication Workers Union representative for Bridgwater, said: “This is a matter that will affect Bridgwater and the whole country.

“As a result of this a private company will come in, meaning prices could go up and jobs could be lost.

“The people making all the money will be the executives and we will be left to pick up the pieces.”

Lord Mandelson says the proposals, put forward in a Postal Services Bill, will maintain the six-day-a-week, fixed price universal postal service and keep the Royal Mail in public ownership.

Adam Crozier, the Royal Mail chief executive, also supports the Government's plans - warning that the company needs an urgent cash injection.

But Bridgwater's MP Ian Liddell-Grainger told the Mercury: “I just do not see how it is going to work.

“Bridgwater is a small place compared to some cities and I think its services would be hard hit.”