The temporary shelving of the UK Government’s plans for part-privatising the Royal Mail have been welcomed but the moves should be cancelled permanently according to Councillor Jim Barrie, Convenor of the SNP Group on Dundee City Council.
Jim Barrie said: “I welcome Mr Mandelson’s u-turn on moves to part-privatise the Royal Mail but I want this to be more than just a temporary reprieve. The government should announce that it is permanently abandoning these unpopular and potentially damaging privatisations.
“Privatisation of Royal Mail should not just be put off for another day, it should be ruled out once and for all.
“In Dundee we have recently lost a number of Post Offices, there have been complaints from constituents about postal delivery times and internal issues within the Royal Mail service itself locally about staffing levels and service agreements.
“I would like to see the government focussing on ensuring a long term successful future for a public Royal Mail service and for the universal service obligation.
“This humiliating climb-down, hard on the heels of a u-turn on ID cards, shows the UK government is in complete chaos.
“Lord Mandelson can’t even get his story straight on why privatisation was abandoned – first he said it was because the plans were jostling for space in the legislative agenda, and now he say it is because the economic conditions are not right.
“Royal Mail must remain in public hands. If elected as MP for Dundee West at the next General Election, I wil continue to fight for the retention of publicly-owned postal services.”