This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/7916478.stm

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Brown defends Royal Mail sell-off PM: Royal Mail needs private cash
(20 minutes later)
The prime minister has defended the government's plan to sell-off 30% of Royal Mail, saying it is the only way to safeguard the service.The prime minister has defended the government's plan to sell-off 30% of Royal Mail, saying it is the only way to safeguard the service.
Gordon Brown told Labour's policy forum the service's huge pension deficit made outside investment imperative.Gordon Brown told Labour's policy forum the service's huge pension deficit made outside investment imperative.
On Thursday, the business secretary said the sell-off would guarantee post was delivered to every home in the UK. On Thursday, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the plan would ensure post was delivered to every UK home.
Mr Brown was booed and jeered by over 100 Royal Mail protesters as he arrived in Bristol to give the keynote speech. Mr Brown was booed and jeered by over 100 postal workers as he arrived in Bristol to give the keynote speech.
The prime minister told the forum: "I do say to you that guaranteeing a £25bn pension fund, spending £1.5bn on the Post Office network, maintaining a universal service obligation can be achieved if we make the investment that is necessary.The prime minister told the forum: "I do say to you that guaranteeing a £25bn pension fund, spending £1.5bn on the Post Office network, maintaining a universal service obligation can be achieved if we make the investment that is necessary.
'No democratic mandate'
"And that's what's behind our proposals to get someone to help us invest... I know this is difficult but we will continue to talk to address the concerns that people have.""And that's what's behind our proposals to get someone to help us invest... I know this is difficult but we will continue to talk to address the concerns that people have."
Mr Brown described Royal Mail as "part of the fabric of our country", but said it was losing in the region of 7-8% per year due to new digital technology and faced a constant race to keep the big customers use Royal Mail services.
But Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "All parts of the Labour Party, from Tony Blair, the Parliamentary Labour Party, constituents and unions, agreed in 2004 that the Royal Mail would continue to belong to the people, and this pledge was included in the election manifesto put before the public in 2005.
"[Business Secretary] Lord Mandelson has no democratic mandate whatsoever to change this undertaking. What he is doing is highly undemocratic and brings politics into disrepute."
The key government proposals include:
  • Inviting private firms to form partnerships with Royal Mail, including taking up to a 30% stake in its parcels and letters business
  • Transferring responsibility for the pension fund, with its £6bn deficit, to taxpayers
  • Transferring regulation of the service from Postcomm to Ofcom
  • A new fund to protect the universal postal service, which may be at risk from private competition in the future
  • Excluding the post office network from the changes
The government says it aims to sell off shares in the service by summer 2009 - but it will need EU clearance first and primary legislation will have to be passed in Parliament.
The cash received will be pumped into Royal Mail and Post Offices Ltd and may be used to partially offset the cost of taking over Royal Mail pension liabilities.
More than 130 Labour MPs are expected to vote against the plans when they are debated in the Commons in June, meaning the government may have to rely on the Conservatives and Lib Dems, both of whom back part-privatisation, to get them through.