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Royal Mail

I have only two or three minutes before the guillotine falls. I want to be as brutally honest as the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe. We do have problems discussing this issue in the Labour party: there is clearly a difference of opinion, and it would be wrong for us not to reflect that by debating the issue. However, I do not think that an Opposition day debate that is being used opportunistically by the Conservative party is the appropriate vehicle for such a discussion. We, as a Government, have always made clear our wish to maintain the universal service obligation and to do the right and fair thing by Royal Mail work force and by the United Kingdom taxpayer, who is a consumer of the service and is also being expected to fund it. Let me pose this question to my right hon. and hon. Friends: should the Government fund the whole of Royal Mail for ever—the pensions deficit, the other ongoing deficits and the requirements for modernisation—or does it make sense to bring in some private sector capital and expertise? That is a question that we must continue to debate in the future, although we are not making decisions on it tonight. The Government will present policy proposals shortly. I appreciate Members' concerns, but let us discuss them openly and honestly. Royal Mail's future poses a real structural problem, because of the changing business world in which it operates. Let us be frank about that, and try to find the best way in which to sort it out. Question put (Standing Order No. 31(2)), That the original words stand part of the Question. The House divided: Ayes 151, Noes 376.