Plans for Royal Mail sell-off shelved
Government shelves plans for Royal Mail sell-off
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Wednesday, 01, Jul 2009 05:45
The government has shelved plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail, business secretary Lord Mandelson has announced.
In a statement to the House of Lords on Wednesday, Lord Mandelson said there was "no prospect" of the sale going ahead, blaming the current economic climate.
"Market conditions have made it impossible to conclude the process to identify a partner on terms that would give market value to the taxpayer," he said.
The government would look at the issue again "when market conditions have changed", he added.
Opposition to the plans to sell parts of the Royal Mail had been met with strong opposition by the unions and some MPs.
Around 180 Labour MPs have now signed a motion calling on the government to keep Royal Mail in public ownership.
Opposition parties have also attacked the government over its stance on the part-privatisation.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat business spokesman John Thurso said: "This is a humiliating climbdown for the government.
"It is quite clear that Gordon Brown no longer has the political will to fight the unions and opponents on his own backbenches.
"The government first told us that the plans were being postponed because there wasn't time to debate them. Now we hear that market conditions are the reason. They really should make up their minds."