Ministers fear for postal plans

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Ministers are worried the controversial plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail could be held up by opposition to the deal, the BBC understands.
Postal unions and many Labour MPs are opposed to a plan to sell 30% of Royal Mail, designed to fund modernisation.
Almost 150 Labour MPs have criticised the plan, meaning Labour may have to rely on Conservative support to win a Commons vote set for early June.
Ministers are under pressure to avoid another defeat after recent setbacks.
But pressure on the government shows no sign of abating with one Labour MP threatening to resign from the government unless it modifies its plans.
Stephen Hesford, a parliamentary private secretary in the Ministry of Justice, said he would vote against the government unless it rethought the proposals.
Asked on the BBC's World at One programme if that would mean he would be forced to resign, he said: "If that was the consequence, that would be the consequence."
Dutch firm TNT, seen as the frontrunner to acquire the stake in Royal Mail, also faces growing problems of its own.
It has suffered a sharp fall in profits in its home market and is looking to cut thousands of jobs.
Despite widespread opposition by Labour MPs - almost 150 of whom have signed a motion urging the government to abandon the part-privatisation - ministers are determined to press ahead with a vote on the proposals.
However, the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said some within Labour may try and use the opposition to the plan, and the worries of potential partners, to urge a rethink.
In the wake of his Commons defeat over the Gurkhas and a series of policy U-turns, Gordon Brown is under pressure to avoid a similar reverse over Royal Mail.
Critics have said that relying on Conservative backing to push through the plans could be equally dangerous.