For Osborne, the cheque really is in the post

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That the privatisation of the Royal Mail was announced last week with relatively little uproar – barring threats of strikes from the Communication Workers Union – shows how much the public attitude to state sell-offs has changed.

Lingering memories of the Railtrack fiasco may well preclude any attempt to put Network Rail back in private hands for now, but there appear to be no qualms among voters over ending the public status of a centuries-old institution.

Perhaps that opinion would have been changed, or at least stirred, by a more honest statement from the government about why it is offering up to 25% of the Royal Mail to investors with a further 10% distributed among staff. Business secretary Vince Cable said that the move was a "commercial decision designed to put Royal Mail's future on to a long-term sustainable basis".

This appeared rather disingenuous when, only the next day, George Osborne told MPs that the government could eradicate the deficit without recourse to tax rises after the general election. Proceeds from the Royal Mail flotation will help achieve this, so deficit reduction appears to be the overwhelming imperative behind the sell-off.

Will the argument of efficiency and value for money apply to other privatisations, such as the nuclear processor Urenco and Plasma Resources UK? No, it is more likely that Osborne will wave a cheque in the air and say the government has taken another step closer to reducing the deficit.

Even if we accept the government's case that the Royal Mail has to be sold off in order to become more efficient and keep up with competition, it should not automatically follow that putting a public service into private hands will represent a good deal for the taxpayer and users of that service.

The Labour government embraced a Brussels edict that the postal service should be opened to competition and the likes of TNT Post are now providing doorstep deliveries to some of London's most desired postcodes. A state-owned competitor would keep those private sector entrants honest, with the same logic applying to the government-controlled East Coast rail franchise, which is nonetheless being readied for an illogical return to the private sphere. The argument for a Royal Mail flotation should be returned to sender.