Vince Cable has fired the starting gun on the sale of Royal Mail by formally announcing the government's intention to float the company on the London Stock Exchange in "the coming weeks".
"This is an important day for the Royal Mail, its employees and its customers," the business secretary said. "HM Government is taking action to secure a healthy future for the company. These measures will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the six days a week, one-price-goes-anywhere universal postal service."
The sell-off of the 497-year-old postal service is the most contentious privatisation since British Rail two decades ago, and is forcefully opposed by the unions, who are meeting with the Royal Mail chief executive, Moya Greene, on Thursday morning to once again voice their anger at the "great British flog-off".
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) plans to disrupt the sale process by holding a strike ballot on 20 September, which could lead to a nationwide strike by 10 October. It would be the first nationwide postal strike since 2009. The union is also pushing for a better pay deal, after rejecting a 8.6% pay rise over three years.
Billy Hayes, general secretary of the CWU, said 96% of Royal Mail staff oppose the sell-off, which "not even Thatcher dared do".
Margaret Thatcher, who privatised British Gas, British Airways, British Telecom and dozens of other state-owned institutions in the 1980s, famously refused to countenance a sale of Royal Mail, saying she was "not prepared to have the Queen's head privatised".
Lord Heseltine and Lord Mandelson both subsequently tried but failed to sell the company, in the face of intense opposition from MPs. The sale of Royal Mail was approved by parliament in the 2011 Postal Services Act.
Labour attacked the government for "pushing ahead with this politically motivated fire sale of Royal Mail to fill the hole left by George Osborne's failed plan".
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Government to float Royal Mail on stock exchange 'in the coming weeks' | UK news | theguardian.com
"This is an important day for the Royal Mail, its employees and its customers," the business secretary said. "HM Government is taking action to secure a healthy future for the company. These measures will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the six days a week, one-price-goes-anywhere universal postal service."
The sell-off of the 497-year-old postal service is the most contentious privatisation since British Rail two decades ago, and is forcefully opposed by the unions, who are meeting with the Royal Mail chief executive, Moya Greene, on Thursday morning to once again voice their anger at the "great British flog-off".
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) plans to disrupt the sale process by holding a strike ballot on 20 September, which could lead to a nationwide strike by 10 October. It would be the first nationwide postal strike since 2009. The union is also pushing for a better pay deal, after rejecting a 8.6% pay rise over three years.
Billy Hayes, general secretary of the CWU, said 96% of Royal Mail staff oppose the sell-off, which "not even Thatcher dared do".
Margaret Thatcher, who privatised British Gas, British Airways, British Telecom and dozens of other state-owned institutions in the 1980s, famously refused to countenance a sale of Royal Mail, saying she was "not prepared to have the Queen's head privatised".
Lord Heseltine and Lord Mandelson both subsequently tried but failed to sell the company, in the face of intense opposition from MPs. The sale of Royal Mail was approved by parliament in the 2011 Postal Services Act.
Labour attacked the government for "pushing ahead with this politically motivated fire sale of Royal Mail to fill the hole left by George Osborne's failed plan".
more
Government to float Royal Mail on stock exchange 'in the coming weeks' | UK news | theguardian.com
