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Royal Mail

I shall give way when I finish this passage. This proposal is a U-turn. I do not criticise the Labour party for making a U-turn, because all Ministers have had to make U-turns. They should be made clearly and explained, and they should be done with a straightforwardness and elegance. Is that what was done on 16 December? I congratulate the Secretary of State on tearing up his election manifesto commitment, which had been so foolishly given, and on being so explicit—but what has happened now? The Government's amendment is not a U-turn—it is an obscure wriggle; I have never seen meaning vanish into a burrow before. It is plainly drafted by a committee, probably chaired by a nominee of the Chief Whip. If it were parliamentary for me to use the term ““con artist”” about anybody in this Chamber, the authors of this amendment would be strong contenders for it. I shall move on to the substance. I anticipated that I would be pressing the Minister to go through the substance of what has been proposed and what interest has been expressed—TNT was said to be very interested. When the stake is sold, will the proceeds go to Royal Mail? In addition, there are the very difficult questions about the pensions and the regulator. However, the Minister now has more questions to answer than simply on the policy, because the Hooper report—which we all find very convincing—compellingly sets out why the status quo is not an option and change is necessary; that more private capital would be welcome; and that some managerial experience of change in this kind of industry needs to be introduced urgently.