Tuesday 10 February 2009

Mandelson's privatisation reinforces old New Labour Values

Its well seen that Peter Mandelson is back at the New Labour helm. His plan to privatise Royal Mail is New Labour at its purest. None of this 'off message' nationalisation for the 'Prince of Darkness',as he is known, he leaves that kind of ideological u-turn to the feckless Mr Darling.
Lord Mandelson, the arch 'moderniser' looking every inch the relic in his House of Lords robes and his junior Minister Pat McFadden prefer to ignore polls showing 96% support for public ownership. In true New Labour style they insist that black is white, that selling off Royal Mail to the Dutch postal company TNT is not privatisation at all but rather 'a joint venture with a postal operator with a proven track record'.
It is not so very long since Royal Mail had a ' proven track record' as a postal operator, a world class record in fact which was the envy of all other countries. But this outstanding public service - invented in Britain lets not forget - has been brought to its knees by ten years of New Labour's privatisation.
Peter Mandelson has urged the Communications Workers Union to accept his privatisation as it is preferable, he argues, to the one the Tories will introduce should they win next years general election. I am sure the 96% who prefer continued public ownership of Royal Mail wonder why on earth the CWU continues to pay Lord Mandelson's party £1m per year from their members money to destroy jobs, livelihoods and the entire postal industry in Britain as we know it.

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