Union leader attacks ‘old politics’ of Royal Mail sell-off

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David Cameron put himself on course for a bruising clash with the postal unions today by unveiling plans to part-privatise Royal Mail.

The Prime Minister and his deputy Nick Clegg confirmed that the Government “will seek to ensure an injection of private capital into Royal Mail” in today's detailed coalition policy document.

However, the Communication Workers' Union, which has seen off successive plans to privatise the state-owned company, immediately condemned the announcement as “old politics wrapped in new language”.

Billy Hayes, the union's general secretary, said: “The British public has consistently rejected the privatisation of Royal Mail.
“This move to regurgitate failed policies will be deeply unpopular.”

The unveiling of the plans came as Royal Mail revealed improved annual profits of £404 million, up by 26 per cent.

However, its revenues dipped for the first time in a decade to £9.35 billion against the backdrop of falling letter volumes.

About 13 million fewer letters are posted daily than five years ago.

All three parties are committed to bringing private ownership into the Royal Mail to pay for modernisation.

Lord Mandelson was forced to drop Labour's proposal for a sale of a 30 per cent stake for about £2 billion last July because of the turbulent financial markets.

He also faced intense pressure from Labour backbenchers, around 120 of whom signed a Commons motion opposing the move.

In their election manifestos the Liberal Democrats pledged themselves to a 49 per cent sell-off, while the Tories favoured an outright sale.

Today's statement says that staff will be given the opportunity to buy shares in the business but commits to retaining the 12,000 Post Office branch network in state hands.

It also talks about setting up a Post Office Bank to develop a wider range of financial services.

The new postal services minister Ed Davey, a Liberal Democrat member of the coalition, is understood to be planning to produce firm plans on the privatisation of Royal Mail within eight weeks.

Today's financial results show that all four of Royal Mail's main businesses were in profit last year despite a damaging series of strikes.

Royal Mail's chairman Donald Bryson said it paid £867 million into its pension schemes but warned that the deficit is likely to be “significantly higher” than the latest valuation of £3.4 billion.

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[Danelectro]

However, the Communication Workers' Union, which has seen off successive plans to privatise the state-owned company, immediately condemned the announcement as “old politics wrapped in new language”.

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Where as Billy Hayes is New Labour wrapped up in Old Labour language.

I want Royal Mail to remain a nationalised industry,but the CWU and its support of new Labour has
led us to the position we are now in.

The Labour government is to blame for all this and Billy would be better off getting on the phone to the Lib/Cons and trying
to explain why they have made a silly agreement with Royal Mail that will put twenty to forty thousand more vans on the street to deliver the mail later in the day.They might even decide to scrap CDV on the green issues associated with it!?

If the CWU are gonna ask us to hit the cobbles and fight against the Con/Lib Private investment,what are they gonna say to
us? -' if you dont back the strike we wont be able to implement this shite agreement?'

[Big Daz]

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Portfolio

Postal affairs (Royal Mail and Post Office Limited), employment relations (including ACAS), consumer policy and consumer affairs, competition policy, corporate governance, company law (including Companies House), social enterprise, Insolvency Service (including company investigations), general oversight of Shareholder Executive and its portfolios, coordination of European business, Export Credit Guarantee Department, trade policy.
Biography

Edward Davey attended Nottingham High School and went on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Jesus College, Oxford and to gain an MSc in Economics from Birkbeck College, London University.

From 1989 to 1993 he worked in the Commons as an economics researcher for the Liberal Democrats, becoming the party's senior economics adviser. In 1993 he left Parliament to work for Omega Partners, specialising in consultancy in the postal services sector.