Keep the Post Public

By Joe Cox

The Royal Mail is an institution that has served the British public well for over 300 years. To change it fundamentally, through part or wholesale privatisation, would require a set of very convincing arguments, all of which have now been rebuffed in our Compass publications Case Not Made and Modernisation by Consent.

The economic case for privatisation has been blown out of the water: far from being an economic basket case, Royal Mail posted a group-wide operating profit of £321m in the year to 31 March, up from £162m a year ago. Look at how this compares with its rivals:

Although cold hard statistics are a necessity, it is for political reasons we must kill the Bill. For those that believe in democracy – check out these polling results, opposition is overwhelming and growing:

What defines us on the left is our unwavering belief in equality. There are so few places these days where we all feel equal, where people are put first and not profits. The privatisation agenda has already deprived us of many of these spaces – we cannot afford to lose another one.

The first line of our alternative model to part-privatisation of Royal Mail, Modernisation by Consent, states unequivocally ‘The government wants to modernise Royal Mail. So do we’. The debate around part-privatisation of Royal Mail has been dishonestly framed – it is a battle between modernisers vs. anti-modernisers we are told. The reality could not be more different, we believe in a modernised Royal Mail and we have a blueprint including:

“New management with the appropriate transformational skills, fresh investment from outside the government’s borrowing limits and the ongoing commitment of the workforce and the union to modernisation. All of this can be achieved within the public sector”.

Does this sound like the voice of anti-modernisation to you?

This is a vital time for defenders of a publicly owned Royal Mail as the Postal Services Bill approaches its second reading in the House of Commons and our nationwide rally reaches a crescendo in London. There are a few things you can do to Keep The Post Public:

1) Email Joe to book your place now at the Westminster Rally at 6pm on Tuesday 9th June: it could be the last chance to show the government the depth of public feeling over this issue.

2) Also, be sure to lobby your MP in the run up to the Second Reading; you can send an e-mail or a letter by clicking here.

We hope to see you there.

Joe