Royal Mail woes, Post Office hopes

The CWU postal workers’ union has branded attempts to privatise Royal Mail as unconstitutional. Billy Hayes, general secretary, points out: “The Labour Party came to power with a manifesto commitment to keep Royal Mail wholly publicly owned” and by convention the House of Lords will not vote it down. The cause has been taken up by Labour peer Lord Clarke of Hampstead, a former postal worker.

In a separate development, calls for a “Post Bank” have been launched by a coalition involving the CWU and the Unite general union, and the Federation of Small Businesses.

They want a bank as part of the Post Office network that can provide services for people and businesses currently not served by high street lenders.