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Commenting, SNP spokesperson for postal services, Mike Weir MP said:
“Sadly, the increase of stamp prices could have been predicted following the UK government’s decision to privatise Royal Mail.
“The privatisation was a deeply flawed Westminster decision, which threatens to have particularly harmful consequences for Scotland where so many of our rural communities and so much of our rural economy rely on our existing Royal Mail service. The UK Government refused to heed the real and genuine concerns that privatisation will mean a reduction in rural services as companies cherry-pick and compete in the larger urban areas.
"Given our experience of previous privatisations no one believes that the regulator will provide real protection to consumers on either prices or services.
"The Scottish Government has invested heavily in a scheme to bring fibre optic broadband to 95% of the population by 2017. That gives a real opportunity to grow rural businesses, but it requires an efficient, comprehensive and reasonably priced service to back it up.
“The SNP and Scottish Government called for a moratorium to stop this rushed Westminster sell-off and have promised to take Royal Mail back into public ownership in an independent Scotland.”
