Plans by the Conservative-led coalition Government to part-privatise Royal Mail – which are certain to provoke another explosive confrontation with the Communication Workers Union – have had a dramatic impact on the campaign to be Labour Party candidate for London Mayor. Ken Livingstone and Oona King revealed different attitudes at hustings in London – with Mr Livingstone adamantly opposed to privatisation while Ms King appeared to back the coalition plans.
Asked at hustings in Hackney whether Labour should oppose the government’s plans, Ms King said: “I think the Labour Party needs to be in favour of a sustainable postal system. Now the facts are, over the last 10 years, it hasn’t been sustainable. Life has changed.” And at hustings in Clapham she asked activists: “Frankly, how many of you put letters in the post box compared to 10 or 20 years ago? If you answer honestly, it’s actually on average by 90 or 95 per cent down. We have to live in the real world here.”
In contrast, Mr Livingstone said: “The Post Office made a profit of £162 million in 2008 and doubled that to £321 million last year. Everything with privatisation is a scam. It’s always based on the need to ‘modernise’ but if the Post Office is privatised there will be fewer people employed and even more obscene salaries for the people at the top.”
