ROYAL MAIL
13.01.2009
Smith, Geraldine
That this House notes that the Labour Party Conference 2008, with the backing of Ministers, supported a vision of a wholly publicly-owned, integrated Royal Mail Group; welcomes the conclusion of the Hooper Report that the current universal service obligation offered by Royal Mail, including six days a week delivery, must be protected and that the primary duty of a new regulator should be to maintain it; further welcomes the recommendations in the Report that the Government should take responsibility for the pensions deficit which followed an extended contributions holiday; endorses the call for a new relationship between management and postal unions and welcomes the commitment of the Communication Workers Union to negotiate an agreement which would support the modernisation of the industry; observes that in 2007 the Government agreed to a £1.2 billion loan facility on commercial terms to modernise Royal Mail operations; rejects the recommendation of the Hooper Report to sell a minority stake in Royal Mail which would risk fracturing one of Britain's greatest public services; further notes that the Government is currently advertising for a new Chair of Royal Mail; and urges the Secretary of State to appoint a Chair and management team who are committed to the principles of a modern public enterprise.
A poster called Labour Forward suggests my views are way out of kilter with the PLP. As over 150 MPs , most Labour, have now signed the above EDM and fiercely oppose Mandelson's proposals I would dare to suggest it is he, not us, who does not ubnderstabd the current political zeitgeist. These proposals will only go through with Tory support - that doesn't help any of us seeking to be elected either now or in the future. Madness........if you go to the Compass website you can sign up and register your opposition too.
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
OVER 150 LABOUR MPs SIGN ROYAL MAIL EDM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Thank goodness for Mandelson. The one voice of sanity in the government today. OK, the CWU pays £1m a year to the party. So what. The service is crap. As Mandelson says, thwe public deserves better.
Maybe the CWU members might think the same of the Labour Party. Why should their members contiue to support the party when the government do this.
With regards to private involvement in the postal sevice, I really doubt there will be an improvement.
It's a shame 'Anonymous' that you lack the courage to put a name to your bile.
What has happened to the Post Office is precisely what happened to the railways under Thatcher; starve the resource of adequate central funding, leading to the introduction of a cash-profit motive which reduces the quality of service, which in turn makes privatisation more palatable to the public.
Of course, when the edifice comes crashing down the public will ask "Why didn't the Government stop it?" Answer being that the Cassandras in the Unions and the LRC will be ignored to the detriment of the Post Office and the wider public good.
Post a Comment