Royal Mail is in the news again.  One local issue worrying me has been the proposal to close East London Mail Centre, at Twelvetrees Crescent, Bromley-by-Bow.  The proposal makes little sense – East London is one of the most efficient mail centres in inner London.  Letters for East London would have to be brought in from Romford.  I am pleased Royal Mail has now agreed with its trade unions to have another look at this before going ahead.  But worries about the Government’s wider policy on Royal Mail will be harder to deal with.

A week before Christmas, I visited the Vicarage Lane sorting office, off High Street South.  Arriving in the dark just after 6.30 am, the place was buzzing.  Staff were organising letters and cards for the delivery they would make later that morning.  It was the height of the Christmas rush.  Some staff had been there since 4.30 am.  

Naturally enough, staff were concerned about Government plans to sell off Royal Mail.  I am worried about this too.  The plan involves turning today’s public service into a private sector monopoly.  Up to 10% of the shares will be reserved for employee ownership, although there is a worrying lack of information about how this will work.

Of course, Labour also planned to inject private capital into the Post Office.  But Clause 3 of Labour’s Bill in 2009 stated: Each Royal Mail company must at all times be publicly owned.  A new private partner was expected to own a third of the business.  Clause 3 would have meant that no more than 49% could be in private ownership.  The Coalition, by contrast, wants to sell 100%.

Opinion polls show a majority of voters oppose privatising Royal Mail.  Even among Conservative voters, 42 % are against, with only 36 % in favour.   The worry is not just about public versus private.  Royal Mail employees are naturally worried about the future of their pension scheme.  

But customers are right to be concerned too.  Today, Royal Mail provides six-day deliveries at the same price throughout the UK.  The legislation does not provide a long term guarantee of maintaining this universal service.

The Bill will also end the link between the Royal Mail and sub post offices, raising new concerns about their future.  A privatised Royal Mail could use other outlets to save money, depriving the post office network of a third of its income.  The Coalition parties objected to past post office closures – and in East Ham some highly prized branches were lost – but this Bill poses a new threat.  

The Government says it wants a mutual ownership structure for the post office network.  Labour supports the principle of mutuals to deliver public services.  But the very people who would have to take up the mutual option - subpostmasters and mistresses – say that government plans for a mutual structure are unworkable.  

Christmas reminds us Royal Mail does a great job.  But privatisation – high on the political agenda for 2011 – is a real worry.