Defence of public postal system

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Borders people will be distressed to hear of the continuing threat to our postal services as the government opens up Royal Mail to further privatisation.

Trade and Industry Minister Lord Mandelson’s document The Future of the Universal Postal Service in the UK, recommends selling off Royal Mail to private companies such as TNT.

Of course, this privatisation will jeopardise the universal delivery and the universal price of a stamp which guarantees that sending a letter in Innerleithen is the same as it is in inner-London.

New Labour may well win the vote in parliament, thanks to its unholy alliance with those other privatisers, the Tories, but they will have abandoned yet another vital public service. Shame on them. We will doubtless watch hundreds of Labour MPs vote to sell off our postal services in defiance even of their own party policy.

Borderers will suffer the worst consequences and feel let down most. Delivering letters every day in our rural setting is not profitable, which is why since 1840 a universal service has meant urban addresses have rightly subsidised rural ones.

Lord Mandelson, another of our unelected ‘representatives’, tries to blame EU rules on this ‘need’ to privatise Royal Mail but this is of course a complete falsehood as Portugal, France, Spain and Italy have all resisted any such directive and with it the destruction of their postal services.

It is in fact the Blair and Brown governments which have been driving this ‘free-market vandalism’ across Europe.

The Communication Workers Union is on record as saying it will disaffiliate from New Labour if this privatisation goes through. Out of the dues paid by postal workers, it gives £1million a year to New Labour.

I am arranging public meetings in Galashiels and Peebles to be addressed by local postal workers and by Colin Fox of the Scottish Socialist Party. Those interested in keeping up to date with the campaign to defend our public postal service can email me at norman@plora.go-plus.net

At the time of writing I have had unconfirmed reports of more action by postal workers in defence of our public postal service.

Norman Lockhart