EDWARD DAVEY MP: MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS, CONSUMER AND POSTAL AFFAIRS
Postal affairs (Royal Mail and Post Office Limited), employment relations (including ACAS), consumer policy and consumer affairs, competition policy, corporate governance, company law (including Companies House), social enterprise, Insolvency Service (including company investigations), general oversight of Shareholder Executive and its portfolios, coordination of European business, Export Credit Guarantee Department, trade policy.
So the LibDems will be responsible for privatising the post office. Hmmm. I think if I had been Vince I'd have palmed that particular hot potato off onto one of my Tory colleagues...
11 comments:
Haha. What fun this coalition is turning out to be. It's a shame it's not full privatisation though. Why not go all the way?
Like they have a say in the matter.
This comes from the EU.
I think you'll find that a part privatisation of the Post Office was adopted by the lib Dems as policy some years ago, with the policy written by Norman Lamb.
Yes, I know that. Still doesn't mean it will be politically popular.
The point is though Iain that the lib Dems part privatisation plans were not money driven but based on making the post office better able to cope with pressures on its pension fund, making workers more involved and generally breaking from the rule that privatisions must always be able raising money with no responsibility to those businesses afterwards.
If the Lib Dem p[olicy is enacted, it is a good one which will have lots of support.
I agree with the policy. The point I am making is that it is a politically difficult one.
"generally breaking from the rule that privatisions must always be able raising money with no responsibility to those businesses afterwards."
...a rule that exists almost exclusively in the minds of those who don't understand what privatisation is about.
You remind me of Larry David's take on the "good" versus the "bad" Hodgkins.
Good that Cable is doing it! With all the UKIP-type of rants Tebbit and Co kept the Post Office fully under the State and the BBC was left alone although Tebbit as the Tory Party Chairman simply fussing and fuming about the BBC bias when R4 RedHead was overtly supporting the Labour lines. Maggie wih her majority could have privatised the Royal Mail and the BBC. She didn't. She also signed the "the Single European Act" which made the EU and their meddling possible. Now the UKIPs rant about Cameron.
Privitisation is a bad idea for several reasons. For starters, who will by the Royal Mail, a loss-making orginization with a history of poor industrial relations. Peter failed. Also, any privitised service will have no real obligation to provide a particually good serive, yes they will have to deliver everyday, but there is a good chance the service will be more expensive and slower. Also it will anger the CWU, causing strikes. I hope this new Tory government collapses under the wave of strikes that is already brewing. The sooner we have some sensible Labour MPs in government, who have some experience, unlike the whole Tory frontbench, the better. I hope the Tories make their cuts, become hated and then are forced out for many years to come.
LDs are not in govt to hide from the tough stuff, you know!!
Trouble is Norfolk Blogger that the Lib dem policy is full of holes.
This year, if nothing is done, about another 500-1,000 Post offices will close due to lack of profits and general retirements.
The Libs proposal will close another 1,500 of the rural profitable ones immediately unless the RM sorting offices are retained. Seeing as how RM don't want to retain them now, why would they when they don't have too?
The Tories proposals of 'run your own post office' are useless too. PO's are already private businesses. If they can't make it work how could anyone else?
The Lib Dems AND Conservatives promised no more closeures.
That is not possible under their current Part privatise plan unless a much funding than the current £280 million {which is mostly returned EU money} is massively increased. This seems unlikely.
The £10 BILLION RM pension black hole needs fixing first.
* The pension defecit is nothing to do with the Post Office. There are only 230 PO's in government hands and those 230 lose more money than the remaining 12,270 combined.
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