The postal regulator has called for Royal Mail to be partly privatised to safeguard the quality of the UK's mail delivery service. Postcomm warned that Royal Mail's financial difficulties would worsen unless bold action was taken. Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm's chairman, told the BBC that without private sector involvement, Royal Mail may require a government subsidy.
Postcomm warned that Royal Mail's financial difficulties would worsen unless bold action was taken.
Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm's chairman, told the BBC that without private sector involvement, Royal Mail may require a government subsidy.
Shock! Horror! Government spending money on public services is the absolutely worst thing that could happen. Ever.
I think there is a macro which goes with this story... Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.
What's left is mostly people post - letters, parcels, and post offices where the little people buy stamps and get their pensions. And so on.
Obviously paying out money to pensioners wastes everyone's time, so the current plan is to close hundreds of post offices to stop that little game.
So this is yet more 'reform' under another name - making an industry look bad by cherry picking the easy parts and giving them to the private sector, and then feigning indignation and horror as the rest creaks along without producing the stellar returns that every possible enterprise is supposed to magic into existence to keep the City happy.
Next we'll have privatisation, prices will rocket upwards, services will be trimmed back to the bare minimum, and everyone will be happy.
Apart from the people who actually use post offices. And most of the people who work in post offices.
But they don't matter. [shrug]
