Rebels' joy after Royal Mail sell-off U-turn

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Labour rebels claimed victory yesterday after Lord Mandelson scrapped plans to sell off part of Royal Mail.

In a major U-turn, the Business Secretary accepted the economic climate was not right for part-privatisation.

It comes after Gordon Brown was warned he would not be able to convince more than 150 Labour rebels to vote for the Postal Services Bill.

Labour MP Geraldine Smith, who opposed the sell-off, said: "This is sensible. Even if you did support privatisation, this is not the right time.

"Why would you wish to sell a great British institution at a rock bottom price?" The Government may still push two parts of the Bill - the bailout of the pension fund and regulation reform to bring Royal Mail in line with private competitors.

Tory Peter Luff, head of the business select committee, said: "There are still issues to be addressed urgently." Voice of the Mirror: Page 10

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This is the Voice of the mirror article referred to above:

Stamp out Royal Mail privatisation

http://www.mirror.co.uk/opinion/voiceof ... -21426285/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not delivering a Royal Mail sale is the government belatedly recognising economic and political realities.

To part-privatise the postal service would deserve to backfire.

Handing a profitable share to a foreign operator while we cover pension losses makes no financial sense.

And the opposition would inflict political damage that a weakened government is unable to endure.

The Royal Mail needs restructuring and that will include painful changes.

We wish the sale had never been proposed but it'll be a red letter day when privatisation is finally dropped.