Ian Lavery MP column: 'The Royal Mail needs sorting urgently'
My constituency office has received a vast number of complaints regarding the unacceptable service provided by the Royal Mail.
Important hospital appointments missed, court summonses inadvertently ignored, bills paid late – and all because of letters not being delivered on time by the Royal Mail that so many still rely upon.
The Royal Mail was publicly owned from the time of Henry the Eighth until privatised fully in 2015.
In 2025, Keir Starmer’s government mistakenly allowed it to be sold to a private company owned by a Czech billionaire, Daniel Kretinsky.
Since then, an already crumbling service has deteriorated further.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) says that its members are suffering under private ownership as well.
New recruits are being paid less than existing employees, creating a two-tiered system with serious recruitment and retention problems, thus creating staff shortages that lead to delivery problems.
The privatised postal service system has been flawed from the start, with the Royal Mail legally required to deliver post at the same price throughout the UK - including non profitable rural places.
Its competitors, however, have no such burden and can limit deliveries to profitable urban postcodes.
The system has been designed for the Royal Mail to fail.
With such clear problems, why did Daniel Kretinsky want the Royal Mail?
Perhaps he sought the lucrative parcel division and calculated that he could pressurise the Government into dropping the universal delivery burden?
More regulation is not the answer.
The current regulator has permitted Royal Mail to consistently miss its statutory delivery targets with virtual impunity, recognising the company cannot meet them profitably.
Radical change is needed.
The CWU, whilst recognising in the age of the postal services must change, has called for a new governance model for the Royal Mail based on democratic public control – with the unions and the public having prominent roles.
In line with Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s philosophy, the union says that only public control will deliver the postal service people need.
I trust that the new Government recognises this fact and will act accordingly.
Residents in the Blyth and Ashington constituency can contact my office by calling 01670 852494 or emailing [email protected] and there are also regular updates that are posted on my Facebook page (Ian Lavery MP).