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Postal Services Bill [HL]

I appreciate the spirit of the noble Lord’s inquiry. No such shareholder agreement exists because no such negotiation has yet taken place. We do not have some sort of putative agreement hanging around on a shelf waiting to be taken down, dusted off and shared. In answer to his previous question, which is very important, there is no legal bar on the Secretary of State or on Royal Mail and its prospective strategic partner agreeing to such an employee shareholding scheme. However, what the Government would say as shareholder, and what I have already said, is that any such scheme would have to be on the basis and within the terms and limitations that I have described—that is, one that does not push the Government, representing the public, into a minority ownership position in Royal Mail.