Labour must write neither blank nor bouncing cheques – just a small one for the Royal Mail

Here’s a non-boring answer for shadow cabinet members to offer TV interviewers the next time they’re in the studio at 11.10 at night:

“Yes, if we’re in government after the next election we will take the Royal Mail back into public ownership.”

With just over 20 months to go to polling day “message discipline” is important. Uncosted commitments are a no-no. It’s clear that the next government will inherit a large budget deficit that will have to be brought down. Danny Alexander’s note to his successor may not be quite as bleak as Liam Byrne’s was. But the story will be pretty similar.

There will not be a lot of money to go around.

So why commit to (effectively) renationalising the Royal Mail? For one thing, the cost may not be that high. The entire organisation is valued at around £3bn. In all probability not all of the government’s stake will have been sold by May 2015. Indeed, the clear statement by Labour that the Royal Mail will be bought back could be enough to halt any attempted float altogether.

But this policy stance should not be seen as a tactical ploy to cause the current government embarrassment. It would be a bold and defining move, consistent with the “one nation” theme the party leadership has been trying to develop but with only limited success so far.

Who says that only the private sector can run things efficiently and profitably? Is the track record of UK privatisations one of uninterrupted, glorious success? Are we happy with our energy and water companies? And why can’t you get a reliable phone signal for your mobile considering how much money we pay for them? And so on. It’s not just that “public bad, private good” is a crude and simplistic formula. Sometimes it’s almost the precise opposite of the truth.

Royal Mail is profitable. It is competing successfully (and, according to Brussels, legally) with private sector companies. It could, if it acquired the same quasi-but-not-quite-private corporate status enjoyed by Network Rail, borrow money at an almost AAA (sorry, George) credit rating, more cheaply than it could as a private company, without adding to the deficit. It currently provides a universal service at a uniform tariff. But for how much longer, if it were privatised? What would supposed “guarantees” on these and other issues (notably pay and pensions) be worth? It is understandable why CWU members look set to reject a £2,000 bung and resist the call to privatise.

A commitment to buy back Royal Mail shares would be portrayed as a feeble gesture by Red Ed, “pandering to the unions who still dominate his party”. That is why this policy would have to be sold as a “one nation” idea, in tune with the large majority of British people who still value the Royal Mail as it is, and who seem sceptical about the alleged benefits of its privatisation. It would also be in keeping with Miliband’s larger critique of the conventional wisdom of contemporary business, set out in his conference speech two years ago.

Labour is being criticised for failing to offer simple, striking policy ideas that win people’s attention and build a sense of what a Labour government might be like. Here is a simple idea that would do that, while also giving shadow spokespeople an answer to that tricky and inevitable challenge: “You say you’re against Royal Mail privatisation. So, what will you do? Will you buy it back?” The failure to answer that question directly and confidently is already causing audible irritation in Question Time/Any Questions audiences.

Just say yes to buying back the Royal Mail. Best when we’re boldest, as somebody once said.