Member of Parliament for North Ayrshire and Arran Katy Clark has strongly criticised plans to allow a private company to buy a significant minority stake in the Royal Mail. The proposal was one of a number of recommendations contained in the Government commissioned Hooper Review into the future of Royal Mail which was published in December. Ms. Clark met with the Business Secretary before Christmas to outline her concerns.

Speaking on the subject the local MP said “I am very concerned at the proposal to sell a substantial part of Royal Mail to a private company. This proposal is likely to lead to large numbers of job cuts, a decline on the terms and conditions of employees and a decline in the quality of service that is provided to the public. If such a proposal goes ahead I believe it paves the way for full scale privatisation of Royal Mail in the future. ”

Ms. Clark went on to say “There is no doubt that investment is needed in Royal Mail and this money should be made available to modernise the way work is done but a private company should not be brought in. I welcome the conclusion of the Hooper review that the six days a week delivery must be maintained and protected but believe it should go further. With an investment in improving the technology currently used by Royal Mail and the support of highly motivated and highly skilled postal workers deliveries should still be taking place twice a day with the first one taking place at a sensible early morning time. Sunday collections should also be re-introduced so that any post sent over the weekend is able to reach it's destination as swiftly as possible. The changes we have seen over recent years have lead to a worse service for all of us as customers. We now need to invest to see a real improvement in service and a strong future for a publicly owned and run Royal Mail.”