Stan quits Labour over Mail sell-off

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/new ... _sell_off/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A FORMER branch chairman has quit the Labour Party in Basingstoke in protest over the Government plan to part-privatise Royal Mail.

Stan Parry, of Beech Way, Winklebury, has been a member of the Labour Party for 42 years, and has acted as an agent for Labour candidates in Basingstoke in three general elections. He was chairman of the Basingstoke branch of the Labour Party from 1991 to 1997.

However, the 73-year-old, who spent 41 years working for Royal Mail, has quit in disgust after Business Secretary Peter Mandelson’s announcement that parts of the ailing Royal Mail may be sold off.

Mr Parry said: “We were given an undertaking by the previous Government that the Royal Mail will never be privatised. Yet Mr Mandelson, without a debate, has decided that this should be overwritten.

“I think we have the right Govern-ment in power but that does not mean I will back them all the way.”

Mr Mandelson announced that the Government would back a report that recommended selling part of Royal Mail to a private company to fund improvements, with Dutch firm TNT and German postal operator Deutsche Post thought to be front-runners.

Mr Parry thinks that the move will bring higher prices for customers and cutbacks in rural services.

He said: “We have got the best postal service in the world but we will no longer have that in four to five years.”

Borough councillor Andy McCormick, current chairman of the Basingstoke Labour Party, said: “I will be very sorry to see him go because he has done a lot of work for Labour over the last 40 years.

“I will be canvassing members’ opinions about this because the plan for Royal Mail appears to be a very contentious issue.”