Royal Mail privatisation ‘unconstitutional’

10.03.09

The Communication Workers Union yesterday raised concerns that Lord Mandelson’s attempts to privatise Royal Mail are in direct conflict with the British constitution.

Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said: “The Labour Party came to power with a manifesto commitment to keep Royal Mail wholly publicly owned.

“According to the Salisbury-Addison convention, the Lords will not vote down manifesto commitments. Therefore, if the British constitution is to remain intact, the move to privatise Royal Mail will stop tomorrow.

“The CWU supports modernisation of Royal Mail and supports Lord Mandelson’s Bill, with the exception of the privatisation element.

“The solution here is to remove the element of the Bill that calls for privatisation and endorse the rest. We want a successful modern Royal Mail in full public ownership and we want the British constitution to remain intact.”