We Have Been Here Before

A report commissioned by the Secretary for Caressing Obese Financial Felines has concluded that, as with the health service and the railways, privatisation of the post office has brought blessings upon the heads of those who really matter: "Large companies have benefited from the full liberalisation of the postal market since 2006 with more choice, lower prices and better quality products". Also as with the health service and the railways, "there have been no significant benefits for smaller businesses and domestic consumers," and the existence of the service itself is under a "substantial threat". The report claims there is a "strong case" for intervention in the free market to ensure a sustainable future for the Royal Mail. The strength of the case is, of course, unlikely to budge the objectionable immobile that is Hutton the Thrift's gland of executive self-interest; the Royal Mail is not, after all, Northern Rock.