Royal Mail plans quietly dropped

Monday, 8 June 2009 4:25 PM

By Alex Stevenson

The government may be hoping to lose its plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail in the post.

politics.co.uk has learned the expectation from Labour party backbenchers is the sale of a stake in the postal services provider will be deferred until after the summer.

Labour MPs will consider whether to commit regicide against Gordon Brown later and, in the current political climate, the divisive proposal to open up the Royal Mail to the private sector would be political suicide for the prime minister.

The government is suggesting the proposal will be delayed on the basis a sale is not appropriate at present because of "difficult economic circumstances", the prime minister's spokesman said.

Business secretary Peter Mandelson told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show yesterday morning that the postal services bill would come before the Commons "in due course".

The bill has already passed the Lords and has only received a formal first reading in the Commons.

Downing Street referred journalists to Lord Mandelson's comments during the third reading of the bill in the Lords. He pointed out that "we will not do a deal at any price".

The government intends to press on with the bill, however. It is not yet clear whether the Conservatives will offer their support to the proposal.

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