Nottingham Post letters, Thursday, January 13

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YESTERDAY (January 12), MPs were due to vote in Parliament on the coalition government's Postal Services Bill, which could pave the way for the separation of Royal Mail from the Post Office network, and the privatisation of the Royal Mail.

The break up and privatisation of the Royal Mail, for which this government has no electoral mandate, will spell the end of the one-price-goes-anywhere, six-days-a-week delivery service, and will sound the death knell of hundreds of more local Post Offices.

The issue of Royal Mail privatisation has been lost in the deluge of public service cuts announced by this government but the impact of this will be no lesser felt.

No commercial organisation would want to do what Royal Mail does. The delivery to every one of the UK's 28 million addresses six days a week at the same price is expensive to maintain and in pure commercial terms is "irrational". Yet this is the cornerstone of our postal service, a service which is not just valued by the British public and local communities urban and rural alike; but which is vital to so many small and medium sized businesses which rely on our postal service to do business.

Equally, the separation of the Post Office network from Royal Mail will mean that a privatised Royal Mail will be commercially compelled to seek alternative and more financially rewarding outlets. This will further starve local Post Offices of revenue and result in more closures as over 30 per cent of all Post Office income is Royal Mail produce related. Yet the truth of the matter is there is no need for the sell-off.

The government claims Royal Mail needs new money, which only the private sector can bring. This is simply wrong. Royal Mail is well into a fully funded modernisation programme which requires no additional money from government or the private sector. Indeed, the issue of Royal Mail's future profitably underlines the misleading and disingenuous case presented by government.

If the coalition government truly wanted to address its concerns over Royal Mail's financials, it can do this overnight by ending the current unfair competition rules which see Royal Mail delivering its competitors' mail at an operational loss.

The government say that privatisation is needed in order to address Royal Mail's £6 billion pension deficit, but fails to mention that under the sell-off plans, they will take control of the £26 billion in Royal Mail pension scheme assets. That £26 billion of postal workers pension money, as government does not contribute to the Royal Mail pension scheme.

The privatisation of Royal Mail is not just opposed by those who work within the industry, but by many who rely upon the services, including the Federation of Small Businesses. Even TNT, one of Royal Mail's biggest competitors, has questioned the privatisation plans.

The challenges facing Royal Mail today and tomorrow are and continue to be dealt with while in public hands, and without the need of any form of bank style bail-out. What Royal Mail and our Post Offices need is the right political support, not privatisation dogma.

DARREN GLEBOCKI

Nottingham and District Amal Branch

Communication Workers' Union, Padge Road

Beeston