Two general elections ago, Labour was promising to renationalise Royal Mail. Now, in office, it is happy to see the ancient institution fall to a leveraged takeover bid from a private equity-style company that will have the power to set the price of a first-class stamp from Prague.
The decision is an outright gamble. Many European countries have privatised their postal services but there is a good reason why none have allowed ownership to pass overseas. Even in a digital age, businesses such as Royal Mail provide critical national infrastructure that has a social value on top.
