PENSIONS & BANKERS
Fair play to Jim Sheridan MP who’s asked for a proper police enquiry into the dodgy gamblers (sorry, failed bankers) and their years of bolstering profits against diminished equity. He’s also asked for the dishonourable gentleman to be stripped of his honour. EXACTLY what I’ve said above, so I’m not the only one thinking this in the country.

PENSIONS & ROYAL MAIL
Mandelson, who I always used to have time for, has written himself right into my little black book (a Jack Charlton from Ashington quote) in the recent puffs flowing from government. Apparently the Royal Mail can’t survive without private cash;

PM: Royal Mail needs private cash

Read the article and then check the holes in the Brown/Mandelson argument. Their ‘plan’ is to give half the RM business to private companies and get the taxpayer to foot the bill for the pension hole.
Er… this is almost what I said above. I actually said;

• Pay back the pension money that was siphoned off in the 90′s to put the company to rights,
• Make all companies who wish to do the business compete to provide the same service,
• Give the cream business back to the RM and let everyone fight for the whole actual service and make it a service.

If RM had all the money owed to them by central government and there was a level playing field where they could keep their cash cows instead of having this business creamed off, I’m sure, even with the current management, RM would not have any difficulties.
The difficulties are purely a creation of government actions and the continuing mindset that’s brought us to where we are now. In the Observer, Mandelson also warned Labour MPs that;

“they must not duck difficult questions and choices”.

As well as his other “warnings” that RM might have to be privatised, the real difficulty is realising that this choice, in combination with sound management, maintaining investment, repaying lost investment and pension cash; – that all these things are necessary for maintaining an actual service, that because of, not in spite of, it’s network of thousands of local offices, is the cheapest and greenest option in these carbon sensitive, global warming times, and is one of the most socially cohesive forces in the land.

The Royal Mail and The Post Office do much more than deliver letters … and if given proper support could do much, much more still.