Closures, reduced service and privatisation. The Royal Mail is a dead man walking

What a Surprise! The “Consultation” has failed to save the majority of the Post Offices originally scheduled for closure. There was never any real doubt that this would be the result of the consultation since the decision to destroy the Royal Mail was taken in Brussels years ago but is just now coming to the attention of the British public.

Not wanting to say “I told you so” but the Post Office as we know it is a dead man walking. The EU anti-competition directives that have allowed German firms like DHL to cream off profitable bits of the service mean that the Royal Mail in this country is on borrowed time.

The next step in the destruction of the Royal Mail will be “partial privatisation”. This would probably be fiercely opposed by the Communication Workers Union and possibly even by some within the (Old) Labour party. Although let’s face it New Labour has really meant New Tories for quite a while so privatisation will be a way to make lots of money for their friends in the City and to compensate for New Labour not being able to sell them seats in the House of Lords quite so easily any more.

Postcomm's chief executive has already told a committee of MPs that she could not rule out axing the Saturday post but then denied a report in The Daily Telegraph saying exactly that, claiming the story had "no substance whatsoever". Unfortunately the Freedom of Information Act enabled the public to learn the regulator had paid a consultancy firm to investigate how much money could be saved by halting the Saturday post and reducing the targets for next day delivery of first class letters.

Successive UK Governments, of all political colours, have failed to protect UK national interests on a huge range of issues, all in the name of being “Good Europeans”. Post Offices are joining the sacrifice of fishing, steel making, car manufacturing, etc, etc on the altar of the European Union Project.

UKIP is constantly criticised for being fixated on the European Union at the expense of domestic policies. However, when the EU take 80% (and increasing) of the decisions that effect every day life in the UK then I would say those who ignore the EU are the ones who need to wake up before it's too late.