In the wake of this week’s announcement (Royal Mail could save £650m by moving to three-day-a-week service, says Ofcom, 24 January), maybe someone could send out a postie to knock on Vince Cable’s door for a comment or two.
It was he who, as business secretary in the coalition government, oversaw the privatisation of Royal Mail, pledging that it would not threaten the universal service obligation to deliver to any home in the UK on six days a week. Indeed, Mr Cable went as far as claiming that securing that specified level of service provision was the “overarching objective” of privatisation – despite warnings to the contrary from unions, industry and other dissenting voices.
