Keep the Post Public
Posted by Mike Wood, MP for Batley and Spen, at 08:37, Wed 6 May 2009:
Last week in Cleckheaton town centre I held a street stall with members of the Communication Workers Union in support of their national campaign to Keep the Post Public - a reaction against the Government's plans to part-privatise Royal Mail.
In an hour an a half we had almost 200 signatures. At many points during the time we were there we had queues of people waiting to sign the petition, which is something I've never seen with a petition before but it shows the strength of feeling about these proposals.
The Royal Mail and the Post Office are part of the fabric of British society. They provide a universal service to all. Postmen and women deliver to every door regardless of the wealth that lies behind it. In its queues we are all equal citizens. Businesses of every size and shape rely on it. For elderly people, those with disabilities, parents, the low-paid and those in rural communities its services are essential.
It works well and could work a lot better if it were modernised and properly invested in. This is what we need to see happen; not any of the various forms of privatisation the Government is now proposing.
The proposals the Government currently have on the table would begin to break up the postal service, it would be less efficient and we would start to see services cherry picked for profit not for the benefit of people.
I want the Government to drop its plans for privatisation of Royal Mail and to work with the trade unions to begin modernising and improving this valued public service.
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Posted by Terence Swift, 09:51, Wed 6 May 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Agree entirely.
Posted by Callum Wood, 13:10, Thu 7 May 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
"The Royal Mail and the Post Office are part of the fabric of British society."
Unless one happens to live in Greendale, where all social activity revolves around Postman Pat, I don't think this is true.
If people were that desperate to keep a Post Office its open, its popularity - by the law of supply and demand - would compel its owners not to close it.
You argue that Royal Mail requires modernisation and proper investment. Why do you assume that the private sector is unable to do this, when privatisation of state industries in the 1980s resulted in a marked increase in efficiency?
Having said this, perhaps you could convince your colleagues that retaining the Post Office as an agent of the Government is a good idea because it will make it easier for them to read other people's mail.