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Royal Mail

I shall be very quick, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so that more Members can speak. I echo the sentiments of the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Geraldine Smith); I only wish that she had had as much time as the Front Benchers. I want to make four quick points. First, the Government said that they were in no rush, and I urge them to leave the decision until the next general election, to put it in their manifesto and to let the people decide. In my constituency, the people want the Post Office and Royal Mail to be kept in public ownership. My second point is that we all agree on the need to modernise, but where have we been? We talk about the equipment that Royal Mail has to use. Where have we been in changing that, and what has the chief executive done to bring that about? What have we paid him for not doing it? Huge amounts of money. Thirdly, a level playing field has been mentioned on numerous occasions. The post office in my constituency delivers for the last two miles, which is the most difficult part of the delivery. The TNTs of this world—the private companies—get the cream, while the people at the sharp end are left with a really difficult job. I urge any Member who has not visited a sorting office or walked some of the patches to which our postmen have to go, to give that a go. Has Hooper done it? Did he visit the sorting offices and speak to the posties? He certainly did not do so in my constituency. Fourthly, we have seen what greed has done to the banks; the drive for profit and more money has almost destroyed the financial system of this country and across the world. I urge the Government to consider that, and not to allow the same to happen to Royal Mail.