UK government looking to sell Royal Mail
With indecent haste it appears as though the UK government is looking to sell off or privatise Royal Mail as business secretary Vince Cable looks to introduce legislation which would "set the ball rolling". There are now fears that the universal service obligation assigned to Royal Mail could well be at risk if the business is sold on to a third party or indeed privatised. Many have been suspicious for some time regarding the UK government's intentions towards Royal Mail and with a history of privatisations and sell-offs, the Conservative party is likely to be behind today's move.
While there will be obvious criticism from opposition parties the Labour party had actually been on the verge of selling off the most profitable part of Royal Mail before union uproar led to these plans being shelved. It will be interesting to see what comments the UK government puts forth with regards to the expectation of a selloff and whether indeed this would be in the current term of office of after the next election.
There is significant opposition towards a privatisation of Royal Mail from the union movement amid fears of thousands of job cuts in order to streamline and refocus the cost base of the operation.
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