Letter: Future of the PO

Peter Wynn Davies
Saturday 01 November 1997 00:02 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sir: If the Government has decided to leave the Post Office in the doldrums ("Post Office to remain in public hands", 23 October), then this is a huge disservice both to the employees of the corporation and its customers and a massive wasted opportunity to safeguard its future.

Both Conservative and Labour governments will now have failed to transform the Post Office into an internationally competitive venture. It is with an awful sense of deja vu that we hear the same people raise the same scare stories as they did before the privatisation of BT in 1984. Then we were told that rural services, the 999 facility and public telephone kiosks would all be a thing of the past.

The Post Office can succeed in a competitive market against organisations such as privatised European postal operators which are now very active in the UK. It needs two things: escape from the rigours of PSBR and a massive injection of private sector management expertise to match its competitors and emerging alternatives such as e-mail.

PETER WYNN DAVIES

London N2

Sir: The use of a picture of a scrap Ford car, an Escort,

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in