Cabinet slams door on letters
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• Hopes of private carriers being allowed to enter the under-C1 letters market faded this week as the Cabinet rejected plans to privatise the Post Office following a revolt by Tory backbenchers.
Proposals which would have allowed carriers to consolidate and trunk business mail ready for final delivery by Royal Mail are also being described as .‘questionable" by the Department of Trade and Industry.
The plan to introduce a postal industry regulator is also under discussion. The DTI says: "The regulator would have been a natural function alongside a privatised Post Office. ..it's also very unfair to reduce the monopoly while not allowing Royal Mail to compete fully. You can't have it both ways."
A disappointed Post Office says it will now be lobbying the Government to allow it commercial freedom within the public sector framework.