Majority of people from the UK are in outrage after “one of the great inventions of our social history”, the Royal Mail, was declared to be going private by the British government. The statement, which was announced last Monday, told us that the privatization will be taking place when the UK sells the state-ran mail service’s final 14 percent stake.
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills said in a press statement that, “current market conditions should allow a successful sale.” Guardianreporting commented on the issue and announced that banks are hoping that the shares will be sold for less than 5 percent discount on the Royal Mail’s share price.
Since it was announced back in 2013 that the Royal Mail was going to be privatised, numerous companies and individuals have criticized the idea, stating that it is just a scenario where only “the rich get richer.” The country’s leading trade unions were also on the same mindset.
The Communications Workers Union (CWU) issued a statement last Monday saying that the privatization is nothing more than hard proof that the Tory party cares more for its own gains rather than that of the public’s.
“This fire sale nails the lie that the Tories stand up for the interests of ordinary people,” said CWU general secretary Dave Ward. “By their actions today they have made it abundantly clear that they are only interested in privatization dogma and making the rich richer—even when their actions place public services at risk.”
The UK sold half of its last remaining stake, (which totaled to around 15 percent) during June this year. Ward again commented on the issue, announcing that the final portion “should have been used to safeguard the public’s voice in Royal Mail and ensure the continuation of daily deliveries to every address in the country.” continuing on stating that “the Tories have instead chosen and ideological course that puts the fundamental ethos of a centuries old national institution in jeopardy.”
The announcement regarding privatization was brought to public only a week after the recently-elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gave us a speech demanding that the remaining shares where to be kept within public control.
“Our party is committed to opposing austerity, committed to opposing the privatization of Royal Mail, committed to the public control of Royal Mail and other public services,” he told a rally outside of the Manchester Cathedral. “We must demand immediately an end to the whole notion to the sale of the remaining 15 percent that is publicly owned—keep it public, keep it safe, keep it ours.”
This Article (UK: The Privatization Of The Royal Mail) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.
The ghost of Thatcher lives on. We are now witnessing the takeover of governments by corporations. Trade agreements that sideline the public, corrupt politicians who are secretly aligning with big bizness and on and on it goes. Try to imagine what our world will be like when our children are middle aged? Rupert Murdoch Presents ‘The World’! It won’t be a pretty picture, I assure you.