Shortchanged on Royal Mail sell off by @LisaForbes

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.labourleft.co.uk/shortchange ... isaforbes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

People in Peterborough will rightly be asking what the Tories and Lib Dems were thinking when they sold off the Royal Mail last year.

Business Secretary Vince Cable was summoned to the House of Commons by Labour to face questions following the publication of the National Audit Office report into the privatisation, which concluded that ministers ‘could have achieved better value for the taxpayer’.

Royal Mail’s share price rose by 38 per cent on the first day of trading, resulting in an immediate loss to the taxpayer of £750m. Vince Cable dismissed this as “froth” and said the price should be judged in three or six months’ time, and yet six months on, Royal Mail’s share price is trading at more than 70 per cent above the price at which the taxpayer’s stake was sold.

The reason the Government was in such a rush to sell off the Royal Mail was to raise funds to cover the gaping hole in George Osborne’s failed economic plan, which has seen borrowing increase by £245bn more than the Government planned. So Cameron & Osborne played politics with our postage stamp and put their own interests ahead the interests of consumers and small businesses.

While the Tory-led government said the sale would prioritise long-term investors, reports have revealed that half of the shares allocated to large ‘priority’ city investors by ministers were sold within weeks for a profit. Indeed, George Osborne’s best man at his wedding bought a £50m share, now worth almost £86m. I also think we should have a right to know if any MP’s have personally benefitted from the sale.

Taxpayers have been short changed by hundreds of millions of pounds as a result of the Tory-led government’s fire sale of Royal Mail. At the same time, vital services and the historic link between Royal Mail and the local Post Office network have been put at risk. Meanwhile, in the last couple of weeks, stamp prices have gone up yet again, following a hike of 30 per cent in the price of a first class stamp last year.

At this time, Labour cannot commit to renationalisation if we get into government in 2015 – it would be the equivalent of writing a blank cheque without considering the consequences. However on entering government, we have committed to secure the Universal Service Obligation beyond 2015, and to prioritise the future of our Post Office network by working to ensure Royal Mail services continue to be provided through the Post Office beyond 2022.

So, the next time a Tory minister appears on your television screen trying to justify cuts to services that benefit Peterborough and our community, just remember how they’ve managed to pour hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer’s money straight into the hands of Post Office speculators and their mates in the city.

[hans solo]

just remember it was LABOUR policy to start rm privatisation ball rolling

[TrueBlueTerrier]

just remember it was LABOUR policy to start rm privatisation ball rolling

Just remember its was as far back as Thatcher that ministers such as Hesseltine were pushing for Privatisation, only Mad Maggie stopped them.


(My views that New Labour were just Pink Tories of course has no bearing on the discussion) and that this article is from the left wing of the party.

[arnold cheshire]

just remember it was LABOUR policy to start rm privatisation ball rolling

labour introduced dsa

[Metalman]

The Tories introduced unemployment.