UK Brown's aides looking at Royal Mail plan-report

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LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Aides to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are examining proposals to turn the state-owned postal company Royal Mail [GBPO.UL] into a not-for-profit company, instead of pursuing plans to sell a minority stake to the private sector, the Guardian newspaper said on Tuesday.

The move would be an attempt to head off another embarrassing parliamentary defeat for a prime minister who has been seen to have blundered his way through a number of recent political gaffes, it said.

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, keen to shake up Royal Mail's management and bring in fresh expertise to oversee modernisation, has been pushing for the sale of up to a 30 percent stake.

The company has an 8 billion pound ($11.89 billion) pension deficit, and the government wants to partly privatise it in order for it to remain commercially viable.

During a visit to Bahrain in April, he said bids for the sale were due that month.

On April 8, Dutch logistics company TNT (TNT.AS) Chief Executive Peter Bakker said the Dutch company continued to investigate possibilities with Royal Mail, while financial sources familiar with the matter said on Monday that private equity investor CVC [CVC.UL] and Deutsche Post had put out feelers.

The Guardian said Brown's aides have been in private talks with leaders of the Labour rebellion, who say investment could be found from within the public sector.

The paper says Brown's aides are in discussion with Neal Lawson, the author of a pamphlet by the left-leaning thinktank Compass, which says Royal Mail could be run like Network Rail.

About 100 parliamentarians are expected to vote against Brown's original Royal Mail plan.

Questions have been asked about Brown's ability to control his party after a parliamentary defeat over Ghurkhas and an apology over lurid emails sent by one of his trusted aides.

On the weekend, Senior Minister Hazel Blears said the Labour Party's presentation needed to be improved, and later its deputy Harriet Harman was forced to deny suggestions she wanted to take Brown's job. (Reporting by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Richard Chang)