It's in the post...

The government is of a mind to self part of Royal Mail to private (overseas) postal firms.

The Communication Workers Union are threatening to withdraw financial support of the Labour party. Well, I never....

One of the problems with nationalisation is that the unions involved will always have an influence over Labour governments. If strikes don't work, there is always the final sanction to get their way.

Royal Mail is a dinosaur. It may have been denied important investment (in the real sense of the word) over many years, but it is inefficient compared with other postal services, both public and private, its price is too high and its service is poor.

Recent changes have meant that our post arrives any time between 8.00 a.m. and 2.30 p.m.. Post boxes are emptied at times not declared, except the last one, and none on Sundays. The result is that if you miss the 11.00 a.m. collection on Saturday. you might as well wait until nearly tea-time on Monday, unless Monday is a bank holiday in which case you wait until Tuesday.

If it were not a monopoly, which is why it has avoided abolition for years, it would soon end if it did not join the 21st century. Many of us avoid using the service if we can, with e-mails, text messages, faxes and phone calls.

Just about its only argument for continuation is the single price everywhere. I do not share this reason. Why should an isolated hermit, a baron in his castle or someone living on a small remote island pay the same charge as someone who lives in a flat with 50 apartments and letter boxes for all of them at the front door? I think I recall that in some rural communities people have to come into the post office to collect their mail, in which case the principle is already broken - their petrol costs have made the delivery more expensive. The principle is ideological. The principle ought to be that there should be no subsidising of some consumers by others, especially in this case where arguably the poor are subsidising the rich.