Royal Mail: Modernise or collapse?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/inde ... full/92865" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vince Cable is resurrecting a Peter Mandelson plan. Cable has asked businessman Richard Hooper to "refresh" his proposals to part-privatise the Post Office.

Hooper's report, prepared for the last Labour government, recommends that Royal Mail go into "strategic partnership with a postal operator."

This means semi-privatisation, handing over business to a company like UPS or TNT. Mandelson abandoned these plans under pressure from Labour backbenchers, but Cable wants Hooper to "test it against current market conditions."

Cable praised Hooper's "in-depth knowledge and experience" and attached a CV to his announcement to show it. Oddly, the list of his 14 past jobs fails to mention the one previous board appointment which Hooper was given to introduce modern market methods into the public sector.

Hooper was previously a director of UK eUniversities Worldwide. Cable has good reason to downplay Hooper's role in this public money-backed scheme to create an international online virtual university. It flopped completely in 2004, leaving the taxpayer with a £50 million bill.

Back in 2004 Hooper was given the UK eUniversities job with a notice claiming that he "brings to the board his technical and marketing experience." But none of that experience stopped Uk eUniversities failing.

A select committee of MPs examined the flop and said that the main reasons for failure were a "distinct lack of marketing" and mistakes with the technology.

So the two areas where Hooper was supposed to be a genius were the areas where his last attempt to bring market magic to the public sector failed.

The MPs also criticised UK eUniversity because "bonuses paid to senior staff were wholly unacceptable and morally indefensible."

They argued: "The non-executive directors who approved these bonuses through the remuneration committee cannot escape criticism."

Hooper was one of the non-executive directors approving the indefensible bonuses.

Hooper's Post Office report bears the snappy title Modernise or Decline. When it came UK eUniversity he seems to have followed the plan of Modernise and Collapse.

[POSTMAN]

The plot thickens,so it's confirmed,Hooper is a twat then?

[DGP1]

The plot thickens,so it's confirmed,Hooper is a twat then?

[Phantom]

He's part of the master plan to get rid of royal mail. If we are given 2 options by hooper, modernise or fail then we should be allowed to fail! chances are we won't!

[Big Daz]

The plot thickens,so it's confirmed,Hooper is a twat then?

Yes

[BELIAL]

"case not proven" and track record f***ing abysmal . How else do you judge his ability ? Maybe you support him on the theory that he can't f**k up so badly 100% of the time, sooner or later by the law of statistical averages he must get something at least 1/2 right