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After the election: what next for centre-left politics?
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Case Not Made: Compass publish counter-report to Hooper
Yesterday the government published its plan to part privatise Royal Mail. The Bill was based on the report by Richard Hooper published in December called ‘Modernisation or Decline'. Today Compass offers a thorough critique of that report and therefore its recommendation that Royal Mail needs to be part privatised with a counter-report entitled Case Not Made.
In this major report we argue that Hooper:
• Fails to make the case that Royal Mail is any less efficient than its European counterparts
• It fails to take into account the key differences between postal operators in Europe and the UK market
• It confuses profits with efficiency and fails to recognise that prices in all EU countries are more expensive than the UK
• It fails to understand the problems of the incumbent operator compared to new entrants in a liberalised market - especially when the government has agreed to write off the pension deficit
In addition:
It fails to provide any hard evidence of the future capital requirements of Royal Mail and asserts that its recommendations need to be accepted in full, namely that the pensions deficit can only be paid for by the government if Royal Mail is modernised and part privatised.
Compass believes that the government must honour its duty to pay the agreed pensions and that modernisation is essential. But there is no logical leap to privatisation. Hooper fails to consider any alternative governance models that could achieve these ends.
Neal Lawson, Chair of Compass said: "It is hard to escape the conclusion that the Hooper Report is a whitewash to justify privatisation. This report misleads Parliament and the British people about the case for privatisation. It is a bundle of assertions and assumptions with no hard evidence or facts.
The Royal Mail must be modernised but not privatised. The break-up of the organisation; the increased transaction costs and the loss of money to pay shareholders would damage rather than assist the organisation meet its challenges. The government must think again."
John Grogan MP said: "This critique of the Hooper report will alarm all Labour MPs. There are clearly no grounds for the part privatisation of Royal Mail. We need a dynamic alternative but within the pubic sector."
For further information: call Neal Lawson on 07976 292522
Note to Editors:
1. Compass is the centre-left pressure group that campaigns for a more equal, democratic and sustainable society.
2. This report was complied by Compass with the advice, amongst others of Professor Colin Crouch at the Warwick Business School.
3. Compass will be producing a further report in the near future detailing a number of ownership, governance and industrial relations options for a modernised Royal Mail.
Download Case Not Made
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Comments
on 02 March 2009, 10:03:28 PM
"Anyone got any examples of this? Er..."
Aftert eh Tatcher/Major/New Labour locust years of an inequality generating boom based on asset price inflation, privatising everything that wasn't nailed down, and irresponsible and completelyunregulatd credit markets, it's not surprising that Mike say, "Er...".
I think it's the to look to the successes of the past - the GPO combining mail, money transfers, savings and loans, and telecummunications comes to mind - and to create, produce and invest in an even better price competetive wholly nationalised communications sector to give these so called "efficient" (ie, low waged, cherry picked services, etc) a ethical benchmark against which to measure their success and to justify the rewards of their employees, including both workers and suits.
The simple truth is, to get through this depression, we need to rely on business structures in both the public and private sectors with powerful defensive strategies which have, for easily understood reasons, survived previous slumps well. Oh, and hang , draw and quarter Adam Crozier, Allan Leighton and Peter Mandelson if only to encourage the others.
on 02 March 2009, 7:42:49 PM
Anyone got any examples of this? Er...
on 02 March 2009, 2:35:20 PM
I wonder whether Brown will understand enough to enjoy the irony that bringing Mandelson back was actually the kiss of death. The prince of darkness has done his thing.
on 02 March 2009, 1:52:44 PM
If Brown wants to save his own skin (and what's left of the Labour party), he needs to give Mandelson the push. I can't see the the PLP having the courage to ensure a parliamentary defeat, Lee - not unless the Tories want to clear the path for a vote of no confidence.
on 02 March 2009, 1:39:16 PM
on 02 March 2009, 10:09:04 AM
Far better the UK government invest in the Royal Mail after replacing its present management with people who are actually competent and committed to the business; change the Royal Mail's strategic objective from ill-managed decline to well-manged growth on the basis of new investment from the government (or direct investment from debt raised in the markets which require solid securities based on the solid cash flow offered by the Royal Mail, or some combination of the two); dump the arch ideologue Mandelson and replace him with a Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform supportive of reforming the Royal Mail as a key part of the public sector. Even Peter Hain would do at a push.
Oh, and remember something that George Osborne and some of the dimmer Tories seem to have forgotten, that it is the ROYAL Mail, a brand which should carry real weight and credibility in a constitutional monarchy, and not just the latest plaything for New Labour's and the Tories' neolib economic fantasists who still refuse to make the effort to achieve some sort of contact with reality.
on 02 March 2009, 8:33:28 AM
You are quite right..apologies. The link was relevant at first: why not provide the money needed by Royal Mail in place of unnecessary and extravagant military spending. But then the topic took on a life of its own. Back to Royal Mail !
on 02 March 2009, 8:04:57 AM
The post office unless Labour intend to use soldiers to deliver bloody mail what the hell has this got to do with mail.
on 01 March 2009, 8:18:15 PM
Most of the threat to the UK cannot be dealt with by the UK military, as you well know. I see no reason to believe that either Russia or China would unilaterally attack. And neither would Iran. Most of the scaremongering is designed to anesthetize the British public so that vast sums of tax-payer money can be spent to enrich special interests in the defense industry. If you believe this scaremongering, you should talk to some sensible friends.
on 01 March 2009, 3:30:19 PM
Finland didn't look under threat in 1939 either, nor Norway or Denmark or Latvia or Tibet or .... Threat is something that is rarely seen until it is too late.
I believe that all western countries are under threat. The only question is HOW MUCH of a threat. I happen to agree with you on the amount of money we spend on our armed forces, and I'd certainly dump our overseas "protectorates" such as Gibraltar and The Falklands and Turks & Caicos. I would also withdraw from any European Union commitment (present or future). I would mainly dump Trident like a shot.
But I firmly believe that we need a viable armed forces, sufficient to protect our shores and to offer a vehicle for protecting others. Are you really suggesting that we cut it to zero ? Or are we just discussing scale ?
I think we should be discussing this on that other thread ....
on 01 March 2009, 2:11:04 PM
on 01 March 2009, 1:14:54 PM
Now I'm relying on the electoral syatem's built-in bias towards Labour to give us a hung parliament and save us from a Tory government. I must admit, though, given a choice between the continuation of a New Labour government and a Tory government led by Cameron, I'll go for the Tories any day.
on 01 March 2009, 10:06:41 AM
Since 2008 in Germany the EU has stated a min wage for Postal workers, and in Germany the delivery of letter 50grams and under are done by the German Post office, anything over can be done by anyone, the Germany Media companies entered into the post delivery especial for larger parcels and large delivery of bulk mail.
But it's all gone pear shaped with TNT making large loses, and DHL now refusing to spend a $1 billion enterprise in America delivery service of mail.
In Germany they have no min wage and local pay bargaining is the main way of dealing with wages, so a post man in one part of Germany can get more then his neighbor area, this has now gone in 2007 the EU stated a min wage had to be set for wage delivery so that companies could then deal with a set of prices and you could not undercut on wages. It has taken as a set the wages from the UK and set the money at Euro 7.00 to 8.00 euro's an hour with set sick pay holiday pay this way companies could not under cut on wages this goes throughout the EU now.
So what has this done, well TNT has to re negotiate it's wage structure HDL has also had to look again at it's wages because it was paying well below this.
DHL is at the moment struggling to make profits with TNT talking of perhaps moving to other more lucrative countries.
So why is Labour looking at TNT or DHL it's a worry,
all this is on the Germany business news.
on 01 March 2009, 3:03:05 AM
So do you want an army of old men, or no army ? Actually they're both the same thing, effectively. Without an army, then we SURELY DO need to remain in the thrall of the USA to get their military protection.
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The countries most under threat are those with huge armies which engage in wars of aggression. Sweden and Finland arent under threat. Perhaps you can explain why Britain needs the second highest military budget in the world. I dont believe it has anything to do with threat.
on 28 February 2009, 11:27:07 PM
Yeah. Just enjoying a stint at one of Her Majestiy's privatised New Labour NHS outposts and subsequent recuperation.
More, more, much more anon on my experiences, thoughts and tentative conclusions of New Labour's abiilties as over acheivers in the irresponsiblility, incompetence and general capacity for changing what they already don't understand, although the public, health profesionals and a few benighted Labour MPs do, to something that nobody else really understands, including New Labour, unless they are the corporations paying lawyers and accountants to help them bleed the system, whether with primarily criminally or not, just as long as the authorities can be guaranteed not to hold anyone, however guilty they may be, to account through the good, albeit mindbendingly incompetent, offices of the SFO, or the Met, or the City Police.
I'm beginning to think we need a new "Bang up the Really Bad Guys Party" to bring politicians and corporations, the criminals and the criminally negligent to boot. Maybe someone will make the effort to form one before the European Eletions, who knowa.
on 28 February 2009, 10:06:55 PM
So do you want an army of old men, or no army ? Actually they're both the same thing, effectively. Without an army, then we SURELY DO need to remain in the thrall of the USA to get their military protection.
"You only have to post on mental health forums as i do to see there is a sizeable number of service users who are anything but satisfied" Firemonkey
You only have to speak to ANYONE using the National Health Service to find hat they're dissatisfied. That proves that the 95% figure is nonsense.
That's not to say that the NHS do a bad job in every respect, but for the money that we're spending on it it's dreadfully poor at delivering. Even the things they do well could so easily be done much better. They're just not a joined-up organisation.
on 28 February 2009, 7:53:38 PM
"Thirdly - why do the government surveys by the mental health tsar show the insane 95% levels of satisfaction amongst service users. It's a puzzle. "
You only have to post on mental health forums as i do to see there is a sizeable number of service users who are anything but satisfied..
Poor responses from crisis teams is something that features regularly.
on 28 February 2009, 7:43:10 PM
on 28 February 2009, 6:36:48 PM
Firstly why on earth do we do this to young men and knowingly recruit them and send them off to war situations which we know will ruin their mental health for the rest of their lives. What on earth it does for the sanity of the Israelis I can't imagine.
Secondly - every one gets disgraceful neglect in the NHS mental health system so why wouldn't soldiers. This isn't a military problem, it's a national disgrace for everyone.
Thirdly - why do the government surveys by the mental health tsar show the insane 95% levels of satisfaction amongst service users. It's a puzzle. But well done the ex soldier for pointing out what's meant to be kept under the carpet.
on 28 February 2009, 5:48:07 PM
It's alright for Lee. The US Post Office was protected by the Founding Fathers in the American constitution as essential to the community. They are so anti capitalist over there.
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I know our little community in the Highlands would find life really tough without its post office.
Interesting point from Francis regarding my benighted place of temporary exile: there can be no other country in the world that has such a vast array of private sector delivery services..almost very ugly strip-mall (20% of the land surface of Murka) has a "Packages and Things", "Parcels", "FEDEX" or similar shop. And yet the Post Office as a state institution still thrives, and all the branches I know have queues on almost every day and every time of the day. Maybe they should pay for a luxury yacht to sail Lord M over here to have a look for himself (and then lose him in an ugly strip-mall somewhere in the "desert of the real", as Zizek brilliantly describes Murka)
on 28 February 2009, 5:36:47 PM
Really effective when there's no real reply - particularly in the face of a massive and, likely, prolonged slump when a government has many, many much better thngs to do than fritter its time and energy on stroking Mandelson's ego.
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Pleased you are back, SG..we had need of you during the last few days. You have a special gift at word-painting deeply obscene images like the above
on 28 February 2009, 4:55:43 PM
One Tory friend told me that there's a neat underground campaign that;s going to be waged between now and the election. The word is that Tories use the Royal Mail, inter alia, to suggest in casual conversation to uncommitted and Labour leaning electors that, unlike, say, a Cameron government, you just can't trust any Labour government to stick to the commitments it has made in the manifesto on which it was elected. It's called moving the punters from a state of curious disbelief (as, say, in an advertisement which suggests that wearing a specific brand of aftershave will make a man unbelievably attractive to women) to generalised incredulity (like, say, the experience of Bush declaring "mission accompished" and then discovering, one election later, that it obviously wasn't).
Saw him give a demonstration standing at the bar and glancing at the Standard when he was getting the drinks and just commenting to no one in particular and he got positive responses from people he'd never met before who overheard him. Really effective when there's no real reply - particularly in the face of a massive and, likely, prolonged slump when a government has many, many much better thngs to do than fritter its time and energy on stroking Mandelson's ego.
on 28 February 2009, 3:06:11 PM
That's the Tories who aren't stuck in the rush to get through the doors the anti Welfare Bill is opening.
on 28 February 2009, 2:46:10 PM
on 28 February 2009, 1:32:28 PM
on 28 February 2009, 1:28:56 PM
If the Tories return to power, they will rush through all the doors left open for them by New Labour's privatisation programme to complete the job.
on 27 February 2009, 10:00:49 PM
on 27 February 2009, 8:30:24 PM
Yet here we are, in the midst of a crisis in which capital and expertise from the Public sector is required to prop up private sector banking, PFI, private sector concerns et al.
I think the Public sector can do without such expertise and capital.
Likewise the Labour Party can do without Mandelsons, Browns, and Purnells. I hope we will soon witness the Labour Party reclaiming itself from these neo-liberal, crypto-Thatcherite aliens.
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