The transfer of the Royal Mail moved a step close this week with the formal announcement being made of the Government’s intention to offer for sale shares in the Company and have them traded on the London Stock Exchange.
I think this is great news for users of the Royal Mail as it means the Company will now find it much easier to raise capital to grow and develop the business. No longer will it have to compete with schools and hospitals when it comes to trying to get the money it needs. The universal postal service is protected is statute and the service will continue to be regulated by Ofcom just as it is now.
It is good news for the employees too. I can not understand why they are contemplating strike action. 10% of the Company is to be made available to the employees under a free share offer.
There is, perhaps understandably, still some confusion about the difference between the Post Office and the Royal Mail. They are two separate Companies and the Post Office is not being sold. Of course most post offices are already owned and run by private individuals already.
With the advent of the internet and more and more people using mobile telephones, texts and emails to communicate the Royal Mail has faced very significant challenges. It has to change and modernise in order to survive, It will find it much easier to do so in the private sector.
I was interested to note that shortly after the Royal Mail announcement it was announced that Twitter was to be sold. Whilst the expected prices are only estimates Twitter is likely to be worth over double the Royal Mail!
David Nuttall 
David – we all know that privatising away RM to the hedge funds is close to your heart as a Tory. The government could have passed legislation to enable RM to access funds differently, but that wouldn’t have suited your warped vision of a future where corporate shareholders run the economy even more than they do, and the Tory party gratefully accepts their donations to party funds.
It’s so transparent as to be pathetic. Do you think that a lot people don’t realise that you’re owned lock, stock and barrel by the City of London and the hedge funds that you rely on to keep your wreck of a party going?
Risible commentary from you. Clearly people are right about you not being the bright one in your marriage.
Whilst agreeing that it is the right thing to do (privatising RM) not so sure about the “great” as you say. It depends on whether you end up with a job or your pension when they dump out tens of thousands of employees. It’s true that Royal Mail will have to change into a dynamic logistics supplier. The last thing any Government is, is dynamic. The question is what will your lot do with the £2Bn pounds it get’s from selling it off. Dig another tunnel I suppose on the stupid HS2 line (yes I agree with you what a waste of money (HS2). I’ll bet they won’t stick a barrage across a river and create some real green electricity – nah to easy that one.