PRESS RELEASE: THURSDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2013
THE CAMPAIGN FOR PUBLIC OWNERSHIP CONDEMNS GOVERNMENT PLANS TO PRIVATISE THE ROYAL MAIL
The Campaign for Public Ownership has said that the government's planned privatisation of Royal Mail, in total defiance of public opinion,' highlights once again the complete contempt that Britain's pro-privatisation neoliberal elite has for the views of ordinary people' .
CPO co-founder and Director, Neil Clark says:
'At a time when privatisation has never been so unpopular or so discredited, Britain's neoliberal coalition plans to sell off a much-loved publicly owned institution which has been in state-ownership since its inception nearly 500 years ago. Opinion polls show over two-thirds of people opposed to the sale, while one third say they are 'strongly opposed'. But once again, the UK Coalition government is treating the views of the vast majority of the public with contempt. This is another case of privatise the profits, nationalise the losses. The private buyers will get a business that has been 'fattened-up' by record hikes in stamp prices, but we- the taxpayer - have been left holding the big pension fund liabilities- but we won't have the profits from the Royal Mail to pay for them. The government says that universal deliveries being maintained- but how long will this last? There is also a big threat to rural services.
The claim that privatisation will improve an already excellent postal service is pure neoliberal propaganda: has privatisation improved Britain’s railways- or brought lower prices and better service to gas, electricity and water consumers? The reality is that the opposite has occurred and if we do privatise Royal Mail we will get a worse, not better service- with cutbacks in deliveries and hiked prices, as The Netherlands' disastrous experience of postal privatisation proves.
The Campaign for Public Ownership is working with all other groups who oppose the sale to mobilise public opposition to the government's plans as we believe that it is still possible to thwart the planned sell-off. We will also be calling on the Labour Party to pledge to renationalise the Royal Mail as this will help to sabotage any sale.
THE CAMPAIGN FOR PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
The Campaign for Public Ownership is a cross-party organisation which aims to harness public dissatisfaction with privatisation and campaign for a reversal of the disastrous policies of the last thirty-four years. The Campaign seeks to expose the cost to the public of privatisation, and highlight the inefficiencies and profiteering of the privatised companies. We also strongly urge that the British government does not give a penny of taxpayers money to a privately owned company without the public receiving equity in that company. The Campaign seeks to counter the negative propaganda about public ownership put about by those with a vested financial interest in privatisation. It’s time to bring to an end to the Great Privatisation Rip-Off.
Email: publicownership@hotmail.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter: @PublicOwnership
Politicians no longer know the meaning of the word 'public servants' Perhaps we the public need to remind them by sacking the lot of them as their employers! Or at least engineering a 'restructure' of our own. I doubt we'd get much for selling them off!
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