Of all the takeover battles on the table at present, there is none more significant to Britain than the proposed £3.6billion sell-off of International Distribution Services, the owner of the Royal Mail, to Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
The passive way in which the board agreed to the deal and feeble undertakings made by Kretinsky is disgraceful.
Chairman Keith Williams and his team should step down and make way for a new slate of director more capable of running a vital utility in the interests of all stakeholders, including the consumers and posties.
The rush to get the deal done parallels the election timetable. Under normal circumstances, this is a transaction which would have commanded the full attention of the Commons Business Committee, with testimony from all the protagonists, including Kretinsky and his operations chief Roman Silha.
The fallout from such hearings, focusing on the fate of an institution serving the country for 508 years, would have been enough to kill it in its tracks.
The election has brought the workings of the Commons, Whitehall and the regulator Ofcom to a halt.
There are no such barriers to a City deal which is in danger of sneaking under the wire while government is otherwise engaged.
Such a sale, with a huge impact on the NHS and the operations of HMRC, should have commanded the attention of government and opposition.
Instead, there have been mealy mouthed words from the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and waffle about the UK need to attract overseas capital.
Ownership of the Royal Mail ought be an open goal for a prospective Labour government, partly funded by the unions.
Labour’s economic team, headed by Rachel Reeves and Jonathan Reynolds, have behaved like rabbits in the headlights, afraid perhaps of upsetting the notion that Keir Starmer’s party is business friendly.
Ownership of the Royal Mail should be a top issue in a campaign dominated by vacuous pledges.
